


Chains Of Corruption

by Nokturnalmortum



Series: Chains Of Corruption [2]
Category: Corruption of Champions
Genre: Anal Sex, Blood and Gore, Corruption, Cumplay, Demons, F/F, F/M, Forced, Futa, Interspecies Sex, Magic, Milking, Monstergirls, Multi, Oral Sex, Other, Tied up/Flogged, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-20 09:27:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 33
Words: 89,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16134428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokturnalmortum/pseuds/Nokturnalmortum
Summary: A girl and her best friend wake up in a new world and are forced to discover the power they possess while overcoming a malevolent entity bent on destruction.





	1. Departure

The wind catches your long black hair and you push it away from your eyes and look out your bedroom window. The leaves of the tall oak tree in your backyard are moving gently in the wind and in the distance, the faint yelling and laughter of children can be heard. A small yawn escapes your mouth as you rise from bed and walk into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror you see yourself, a healthy, slim 22 year old girl about 5' 7" tall. Your piercing green eyes accentuate your cute face and your breasts have grown in nicely at a C cup. Walking over to your closet, you browse through your wardrobe and decide on a tight white shirt and skinny jeans, so you get dressed and then head outside. It's Friday and there is an important test on Monday so you've decided to help your best friend study. 

"Hey! Mika! I'm over here!" Gwen is as energetic as usual today it seems and her sparkling blue eyes meet yours as she playfully skips towards you and gives you a big hug. 

"Alright, alright, keep it down I'm right next to you." You say slightly annoyed. 

"Sorry, but you know how I get a bit carried away sometimes hahahaha!" Gwen laughs it off and leads you towards her house. Along the way, you catch yourself checking out Gwen. It's not as if you like her that way, she's been your friend for as long as you can remember. It's just hard not to notice with the way her long, golden blonde hair bounces off her shoulders with every step and you swear she is swaying her ass a little more than necessary in her short blue skirt. 

"Ughh, why do these tests have to be so hard?" Gwen whines as the two of you round another corner. 

"We're in college now. It's not supposed to be easy." You reply. 

"I know, I know, lucky I have you to help me though." Gwen says as she winks at you. 

After a few more minutes of walking, you are on a street you've never been on before. Nothing out of the ordinary, but nothing familiar either. As Gwen is turning the corner, a glint catches your eye through a window. You stop for a moment to try to make out what it is through the dusty curtains.

"What's up? Did you see something?" Gwen asks. 

"I don't know, there was a light, but I don't see it any more." Your words barely leaving your lips before Gwen tries the handle on the old wooden door and surprisingly, it creaks open. 

"Well, that's weird, let's check it out!" Gwen says confidently, although she waits for you to take the first step in. 

The building is old and dusty and almost looks out of place among the more modern architecture in this part of the city. Gwen coughs and says, "This place is so run down. I wonder why no one has fixed it up yet? What do you think Mika? With a little work, it could be a cute little salon!" 

You are about to reply when a light catches your eye. The interior is dark, the daylight blocked by the tall, empty shelves and dusty old sheets hung up like curtains, but in the back corner you notice the same light from before, only much clearer now. A tall shape is covered by a dusty tan canvas tarp and at the top, shining even underneath the thick cloth, is an eerie reddish glow. 

"Whoa... That's kinda creepy, huh? What do you think it is?" Gwen slowly lifts her arm to the top of the object and pulls the tarp away. The two of you stand there speechless for a moment, bathing in a crimson glow before you speak. 

"A-are you seeing this?" Is all you can manage to say. 

A large ornate mirror stands in the corner of the otherwise empty building, its surface rippling and distorting your reflections while a beautiful red gemstone shines proudly from a fixture at the top.  
"Is that a mirror? What's wrong with it?" Gwen asks as she hesitantly touches the golden trim around the mirror's rippling surface. 

"I have no idea, and what's with that light?" Your gaze is drawn to the gemstone and it almost feels like someone is watching you. 

"Oh yeah!" says Gwen eyeing the stone as well. "That baby looks like it's worth some real money, doesn't it Mika?" A deep sense of foreboding hits you and you tell Gwen that you two should probably just leave.

"Awww, come on Mika, don't be scared. If it's really that valuable, it wouldn't have been left behind." Gwen says as her fingers barely reach the gem but it is firmly attached to the mirror. As she struggles with it, you step forward to try to get her to stop, but Gwen pulls a little too hard and the mirror tips over. Before you can react, the surface of the mirror hits your head. A bright white light and a woman's muffled voice is the last thing you remember before losing consciousness.


	2. Awakening

The strong smell of flowers wakes you up and you open your eyes slowly and adjust to the sunlight. Your head hurts and then you remember the mirror. You quickly look around but everything has changed. No longer in a dark room, you lie in a large field mostly covered in small flowers. Unfamiliar forests and mountains surround the rolling plains you're currently in. There is no sign of civilization either, however you notice Gwen lying a few feet behind you. Groggily, you crawl over to her and sigh in relief when you notice she is still breathing. As you try to piece together your situation, Gwen finally comes to. 

"Uhhh... What happened?" she weakly asks and you try to explain but realize you don't know much about what happened either. "So, that big mirror fell on us and now we're here? Does that mean... Did we go inside the mirror!?" Gwen is starting to recover now and sits up on her own. 

"This doesn't make any sense! Mirrors can't do this, it's... impossible, right?" You try rationalizing it but the more you look around, the more it seems true. 

"Hey Mika, we can go back, right?" Gwen meekly asks. 

"I don't even know where we are, much less how to get back." Your tone is harsh and she sees it in your eyes. Gwen looks frightened and dejected. "Sorry I... I'm just freaking out." You tell Gwen as you stand up. 

"It's ok, let's just get out of here and find someone who can point us in the right direction." Gwen says with a smile, she's always been an optimist you think to yourself.

"Ok, but, it looks like it's almost evening already." You reply. 

"What? It was only ten o'clock when we went inside that building, how can it be that late?" Gwen asks frantically. 

"I don't know, maybe we were unconscious, either way, we should look for a place to camp for the night." You suggest. 

"Camp!? Here? In the wilderness? No way! What if some big wolf or something comes in the middle of the night? We'd be eaten for sure!" Gwen seems adamant about not staying out but you remind her that there is no town in sight and precious few hours of daylight left. After a brief argument, Gwen concedes and the two of you gather sticks and small branches for a fire. Getting a fire started is actually a lot harder than you thought but eventually your diligence is rewarded and the fire crackles to life. As the small campfire glows against the growing darkness, Gwen looks to you and asks, "Aren't you mad?" You look over at her and even though you can't deny it is her fault you're here, you can't stay mad at your best friend. 

"No, I might not want to be here right now but I guess it's better than just one of us being here alone." You reply with a soft smile. Gwen's face shows her fear and it's clear the thought of being alone here hadn't even crossed her mind. "It's ok, I'm here with you, and tomorrow we'll find out where we are and how to go back home alright?" Gwen nods and the two of you sit close to each other with your backs against a tree. Some time passes as the two of you silently watch the stars and the night grows chilly. Gwen scoots closer and huddles up next to you. 

"Thanks for not hating me Mika. I know I messed up big this time, but I'm just so glad I'm with you and not someone else." Tears begin to well up in Gwen's eyes. 

"Hey, I told you I'm not mad. Let's just try to get some sleep ok?" Gwen nods and rests her head against your shoulder and before you realize it, you too are asleep.


	3. Kidnapped

A faint rustling catches your ear and you slowly open your eyes. Gwen is no longer resting by your side and as you turn your gaze you see them. Six, maybe seven men wearing only loincloths, surrounding a rickety wooden cart. All of them are very short, only about up to your breasts, and their skin is a dark green hue. They have beady black eyes and some of them carry wooden clubs or small swords. Then you notice that some of them are pushing Gwen onto the cart! 

One of the men notices you are awake and yells something, alerting the others. As you stand up, a small glass bottle flies through the air and hits you in the head. It shatters and the contents, a hazy pinkish liquid, pour down your face and chest. The men burst into laughter and some of them make obscene gestures.

Furious, you decide to put the few years of martial arts training you had to good use, but as you take a few steps forward, you are bombarded with a heavenly aroma. Your skin tingles and you feel like your losing control over your thoughts. You tremble and fall down to your knees as one of the little green men walks over to you. He grabs your hair and yanks your head back to look into your eyes. He laughs and lets go of you then his hands move down and begin rubbing your breasts. A moan escapes your lips before you snap back to reality and push him away. Whatever was in that bottle, it is making it increasingly difficult to think. 

All you can focus on is a growing feeling of emptiness which you desperately need to fill. Your mind is clouded and you struggle to focus on another two men coming your way. The first charges in too fast for you to track and grabs your arms from behind. The second walks up calmly and grabs a bottle from his satchel. You notice it looks like the same one as before but you are powerless under the influence of whatever drug these men possess as your hands move on their own and begin rubbing your breasts.

Just as all seems lost and the man is inches away from making you drink the pink liquid, an arrow screams past your ear and hits the man square in the face. He stands there for a moment, potion in one outstretched hand and the arrow sticking out of his head before collapsing in front of you. The rest of the men yell and try to get on the cart. The man holding you nearly falls over and abandons you for the safety of their cart, but another one of them rushes toward you and just before he reaches you, another arrow sinks deep into his chest. The men quickly board their cart and ride off with Gwen as their prisoner.

You are unable to comprehend more and your hands move of their own will down to your hips. In seconds, your pants and underwear are around your ankles as you furiously finger your slit. One hand rubs your clit and the other fills your pussy with two of your fingers. A guttural moan of ecstasy leaves your mouth, the feeling of pleasure is much more intense than usual and in your stupor, you fail to notice someone approaching from the treeline. The feeling of bliss is almost too much to bear but for some reason, you are determined to finish what you started.

"My, my... you got off easy compared to your friend. Lucky for you I was nearby and heard some commotion." Her voice is very feminine but the woman wears a hood and bandanna, concealing her features. The woman takes her knapsack off and rummages around in it for a minute before producing a familiar looking vial, only this time the liquid is a crystal clear.

"Here." She says as she lifts your head a bit and puts the flask to your lips. "This should cancel out that lust draft but you will need a while to recover." You absentmindedly drink the concoction until it's gone. After a few minutes you feel your arousal receding to a normal level and start to relax and collect yourself. Only it doesn't stop there, you feel increasingly fatigued and try to at least pull your pants up but only get halfway before falling into a deep sleep.


	4. Thanos

Several hours later, you awaken to find yourself in someone's home. Clothes, books, and various other household items are strewn about the small abode. It looks big enough to accommodate just the owner though and you feel a bit cramped. You don't see any other rooms and your rescuer seems to have left as well. 

"What the hell is going on?" You say aloud as the whole experience so far replays in your head. 

Then you hear a rustling sound coming from an old wooden desk on the other side of the room. There is a window just above the desk and daylight shines warmly over the open books lying there. Upon closer inspection, you notice that there is something on one of the books. 

"No way... are you..." Your voice trails off as you stare at a tiny girl with shimmering wings peacefully sleeping on top of an open book, almost as if she were studying all night. 

Her skin is fair and her light blue hair is almost to her shoulders. She's wearing a very short dress with sleeves that shimmer just like her wings. The girl could easily fit in the palm of your hand and you wonder what kind of place you've ended up in. The girl slowly stretches and let's out a cute little yawn as she wakes up. 

"Oh, hi!" The tiny girl says trying to act as if she wasn't just sleeping. "I was just, uh... looking for my pen!" She exclaims with no pen in sight. "Your welcome by the way, the least you could do is thank me you know. I did have to use my only bottle of pure essence after all." The girl looks at you as if you've done something wrong but you are completely lost. 

"What is this place? Who are you?" You eventually ask. The tiny girl's wings begin to flutter and she flies up to your eye level and takes a good look at you. 

"You... aren't from around here are you?" She asks coyly. You explain how you found a strange mirror and it fell on you and your friend, then you woke up here and we're attacked by those strange green men. 

"So, you're from another world!? No way that's crazy! Hahahaha!" The tiny girl kicks her feet as she laughs at your story. 

"Well all of this is crazy to me! Tiny people, that weird pink stuff, and Gwen is..." Your voice trails off as you try to calm yourself. 

Your obvious lack of knowledge about the world and its inhabitants make the small girl wonder if you're telling the truth. She can see the regret in your eyes over not being able to help your friend and seems compelled to at least teach you some basics. 

"Ok, I guess it's not that hard to believe in a world like this. So here's the deal, I'm gonna tell you what you need to know so listen up!" The way her tiny voice tries to be commanding is more laughable than intimidating but you realize this is your chance to get some real information about this place.

"Where is the woman from last night? The archer." You ask wondering why she would leave a stranger with this girl. 

"I told you already. It was me! You don't know anything about fairies either? Wow, so you're like a baby then, huh? Everything is new?" She asks sarcastically. You don't know what to say, everything does seem very different from what you are used to. 

"Alright then how's this?" The fairy's tiny blue eyes begin to glow as she says a few words in a language you don't understand. A puff of smoke accompanies a small pop sound and when it clears, suddenly the archer is standing before you. 

"I can change my form. It's useful if I need to defend myself or interact with normal sized things that would be too big if I was fairy sized. I can only hold it for a few minutes though, it drains a lot of my magic power." The girl explains.

"That's amazing!" You exclaim. You haven't seen anything like this before. Movies and TV shows from home had fairies and stuff like that but it was all fake, and yet here is a real live fairy showing you her magical power. You look around and pull up a nearby chair so you can sit. 

"By the way, my name's Kira." The girl pulls down the bandanna from her face to reveal a smile and with another puff of smoke, Kira has returned to her original size. 

"Oh sorry, I'm Mika. And... thank you for saving me." You realize you owe this girl a lot, she can only fight for a few minutes before she expends her power and yet she took the risk of taking on several of those men by herself. 

"Ah, it was nothing, those goblins are pretty stupid, if they can't see where the attack comes from they usually just run away. That's why I use a bow! It's quiet and I can take 'em out before they know what hit 'em!" Kira exclaims. She seems to be getting worked up a bit so you try to steer the conversation back on track. 

"Fairies and goblins, huh? So what other kinds of people live here?" You ask as you look around her small home.

Kira gives you a puzzled look and asks,"Do you know anything about Thanos?" You return the puzzled look and shake your head. "This is gonna take longer than I thought." Says the fairy, putting her hand to her forehead and sighing dramatically. 

"Ok then, this world is called Thanos. A long time ago, way before I was born, the whole world was beautiful. The different races didn't exactly all get along but it was a peaceful time. My mother used to say it was paradise, but then something happened. A meteor fell from the sky in the dead of night and landed on a big island in the middle of the ocean. The people were curious and sailed off to see it for themselves. By the time they arrived only a few days later, almost the entire island was covered in some kind of black slime. The people carefully explored the island, avoiding the slime, and found that the meteor had created a huge crater." Kira says as if reciting a story. She pauses for a drink of water before continuing.

"That part is always the same but then it gets complicated. Some people say the demons crawled up from hell where the meteor had fallen. Others said the demons were inside the meteor and were released when it hit the ground and shattered. I don't know which is true, but that's when the demons showed up for the first time. They talked the people into helping them clean up the slime, assuring them it was harmless. Of course, in case you couldn't guess by the name, they lied and everyone who touched the slime was changed somehow. Some people looked like they were combined with an animal, some turned into completely new species. No one has seen that black goo since then because the few people the demons allowed to escape, told of its horrors and no one dared go near the island again. The people that returned from the first expedition were looked down upon and even though they rarely had contact with other people, more and more of the population were beginning to grow animal like ears, horns, tails, and even wings in some cases. Eventually the majority of the people were morphed into something only vaguely resembling their former selves. It didn't just change their appearance though, it also changed the way they think and act. There's also people that were mixed with animals that are... not so nice." 

You stare at Kira trying to absorb all this new information. This sounds ridiculous but you've seen enough to know it's real and that stirs something within you. A deep, primal fear of being the only one, like being on a different planet all alone. No one here will be able to relate to your life before this and as you try to reassure yourself that there must be a way back, Kira continues her story.

"Spiders, snakes, bees, mice, birds, cows, and pretty much any other animal you can think of has made its way into the gene pool. Oddly enough, you don't see very many animals mixed with other animals, they do exist but they're considered very rare, almost mythical. Humans seem to be the one's most affected by it though." Kira says, pausing for another drink.

"It?" You ask unsure of what she's referring to. 

"Oh, that's right, when everyone was first starting to change back then, the people started to believe the ones that changed were infected somehow and started calling them 'corrupted'. As time went on people saw the demons building a giant factory on the island in the distance. Eventually they finished and a thick black smoke poured out of it and hasn't stopped since. Everyone started saying the demons were pumping out pure corruption and that's why they were all changing." Kira explains.

You think for a moment before saying, "Has anyone tried to stop the demons?" 

"Well of course, it's not like they wanted all this to happen. They tried reasoning with them at first, fearing a conflict, but when their envoys didn't return, they had no choice. A guild was formed called The Guardians and they threw everything they had at the demons, but they seemed infinite in number. It was a constant struggle but with their superior numbers, the demons kept The Guardians at bay. The fighting and killing seemed to intensify the factory's smoke and it kept growing until The Guardians had to retreat. Anyways, the demons didn't seem to want to kill anyone, although they had no problem with it either. They were more focused on transforming the people of this world into their slaves. Some demons left the island and lived among the people. They were feared as they proved their physical might and magical prowess on the battlefield, but they seemed to just want to live like everyone else so they were tolerated. Now a days, it's kinda rare to see a full fledged human walking around." 

You have so many questions your mind is reeling but the most important thing is to find Gwen, so you ask, "Kira, do you think I can rescue my friend from those goblins?" 

The fairy looks at you from head to toe and says, "No. You still don't know enough yet. Plus, by now they've returned to their lair, which means a lot more of them with nowhere to run and they most likely have some kind of leader." 

The stark reality of the situation hits you hard. You fight to hold back tears of frustration at your inability to help Gwen. 

"Hey relax, I said you don't have a chance, by yourself, but if I'm there with you, I'm sure we can manage it somehow!" Kira says with a smile and a wink. You look up at the tiny floating fairy and although you are skeptical about her being helpful in a drawn out fight, you have no doubt her knowledge will prove invaluable. 

"Thank you Kira, but why are you helping me? You put your life on the line once already and now your going to do it again. I just don't understand why you would do all this for someone you don't know." Kira puts her hand to her chin as if thinking for a moment before replying. 

"Well I've never heard of anyone from another world coming to our little planet, except the demons, but you clearly aren't one of them." Kira says. 

You wonder if you should ask and decide to just do it."How can you be sure?" You have no doubt you're human but how can she tell? 

Kira laughs a little before saying, "Because we both still have our clothes on and your not trying to use me as a dildo or something. Hahaha!" You blush at the lewd words coming from this innocent looking fairy. Is this the corruption she was talking about? 

You think about the situation for a moment before saying, "Do you know anyone else that might go with us to increase our odds?" 

"Hmm." Kira mumbles and seems lost in thought before she suddenly exclaims, "Yeah! I know the perfect person! This will be easy if she comes too!" Before you can ask who it is, Kira grabs your hand and tries pulling you towards the front door. You shrug and let the fairy guide you outside.


	5. Gods And Demons

Kira says it's not far and so the two of you set out into the woods. Kira's tiny cottage is surrounded by woodlands and it's difficult to see very far into the forest. There isn't a path to follow so you stick close to Kira as you get further from her home. Along the way, Kira tells you about the god, or in this case goddess, of this world. 

"Mara is the goddess of light. She's the one who created Thanos and it's people. She is said to be so pure and bright, it makes the sun shine. I don't know why she hasn't done anything about the demons yet, but I'm not a goddess so what do I know? Hahaha!" Kira says and playfully glides around you as you make your way deeper into the forest. You aren't very knowledgeable when it comes to plants, but the flora of this new world seem a bit, different. 

"Be careful up ahead, ok Mika?"Kira says and you are about to ask why when you come to a clearing. There are thick vines entangled with each other on the ground and strange flowers stick out of them in seemingly random places. 

"What are these things?" You ask Kira. 

"They're dick vines. And those are pussy flowers." She says with a wide grin. 

"Wh-what?" You meekly reply. 

"You gotta be careful because they're pretty aggressive if you disturb them." Kira says as she effortlessly floats above them. You look down and see one of the vines moving slightly but it stops soon after. 

Carefully, you make your way through the clearing and ask Kira, "What happens if you disturb them?" 

Kira flashes you a devilish grin and says, "Well in your case, those dick vines would most likely tie you up and pump you full of as much of their cum as you can take." Again, your cheeks burn with embarrassment at the sound of her lilting voice saying such dirty words. Apparently, Kira sees your expression and teases, "Aww come on Mika, I've already seen you playing with yourself, or have you forgotten?" Her words sting and the embarrassment intensifies. 

"I... I didn't have control over myself..." You meekly object. 

"Hee hee, you were really going at it though. It was getting me all wet just watching!" Kira proudly claims. 

"Ok ok, just... can we forget about that for a minute? So, you never told me who it is we're meeting."  
Kira gives you a nudge on your shoulder and says, "Alright, if you insist, her name's Vivienne. She's an elf and she's really pretty. She's also the one who taught me to use a bow." Kira states. 

"Really? It sounds like we will have a good chance to rescue Gwen after all." You reply. "Is Vivienne, uhh, mixed with something too?" 

"Haha, no, Vivienne is a pure elf and is very proud of it." Kira says. "Just, try not to piss her off, she gets cranky easily." 

You hope you can manage to convince this Vivienne to accompany you on your journey and as you begin to wonder what she will look like, you reach the edge of the forest. It looks like the field of flowers you woke up in when you first arrived in Thanos. 

As if she heard your thoughts, Kira says, "This is where I found you. Riiiight over there." She says, pointing to a familiar looking tree. You wonder if Gwen is alright and strengthen your resolve to save her. Kira leads you over a few hills until you see a huge stone wall in the distance with what looks like buildings beyond it. 

"That's Valen City. It's the biggest city on the continent and that's where Vivienne lives. There's all kinds of fun stuff to do there, but I'll tell you about it later, after we save your friend." Kira says leading toward the city. 

You nod in agreement and continue on. By the time you get to the gates, it is almost evening. Just before entering the city, Kira pulls you aside. 

"Ok so obviously things are a lot different than what your used to but most people aren't gonna believe your from a different world, so you should just pretend that your from this world. That means you're going to have to do things you wouldn't normally do to be able to make it here." You have a sinking feeling in your gut as Kira continues. "Think of it as just another small step towards your goal." 

"Kira, what are you talking about exactly?" You ask, hoping for an answer that doesn't make you blush. 

"Ok, enough beating around the bush, your a new face in town and the guard will be suspicious so your probably gonna have to suck him off." Kira says nonchalantly. 

"What!? Why would I have to do that?" You protest. 

"I told you, the corruption has changed people. They are much more open about sex, they even have a really cool brothel in there too!" Kira says not really answering your question. 

"Isn't there any other way?" You ask. 

"No, unless the guard is a girl. Then you could eat her out I guess." Kira says with a smile. 

If this is what the whole world is like, what were those goblins doing to Gwen right now? You would never even think about having sex with a random stranger before this but, with Gwen's life on the line, you unwillingly agree and make your way to the gate. There is an alcove to either side of the massive wooden gate with guardsmen posted inside. Not seeing a difference, you make your way to the guard station on the right side of the gate. As you approach, you notice two guards sitting inside. A dog man sits in a chair awaiting people seeking entrance with a bored look on his face, while a cat girl sits in the back with her feet on top of some crates, her helmet covering her face with her feline ears poking out of the top. 

"Ok follow my lead." Kira says before buzzing over to the man. "Hi there, my friend and I are just visiting the shops today." Kira's really trying to lay on the charm. "I hope you will let us in, we will be so sad if we can't go shopping in town." 

The man looks at you, then back to Kira. "Well I suppose I could be convinced, if you two would..." His voice trails off and Kira picks up where he left off. 

"Oh of course! We would love to. Isn't that right Mika?" Kira says as she nudges you.

You look at the man hesitantly before responding, "Y-yes that's right. I... want to suck your cock." You can't believe you just said that. It's only to help Gwen but still, it feels weird saying it out loud.  
"Oh I think you two just might make it into they city today." The man says smiling as he unbuttons his pants. 

You can't help feeling like you shouldn't do this but you have no other choice. Just as the dog man pulls out his bright red cock, the woman that was sleeping in the back stands up and slaps the man in the back of his furry head. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The woman yells at the man. Finally someone with some sense.  
"They're trying to get into the city." The man explains. 

"I can see that! Why didn't you wake me up? You thought you could just fuck these two and leave me high and dry?" Oh shit, she's even crazier than he is! 

"You, with the dark hair, come with me." The woman says sternly. You follow her to the back of the alcove and she gives you a fierce look. "On your knees." The woman's presence is intimidating and you decide to do what she says, at least you won't have to suck someone's dick. 

The woman undoes her pants and drops them to the floor, revealing a huge horse cock. Well fuck... Your eyes widen and you look back up at the woman. Her face is definitely feminine as well as her breasts, but then how does she have a cock? There is no time to wonder about these things as the guard takes her cock in one hand and your hair in the other. 

She slowly strokes her stallion sized cock until precum drips from the flared tip, which she then spreads on your lips. "Open wide slut." She says as she begins stuffing her fat cock into your mouth. You've given blowjobs before, but nothing like this. You find it hard to breathe and struggle to relax your throat. Deeper and deeper, the woman's cock slides into your throat until she slowly pulls it out again. 

"Mmm. Just like that. Take my cock all the way down that dirty throat." The woman moans but gurgling noises are your only response as she slowly fucks your throat. 

You look for Kira and see she is naked, impaled on the tip of the dog's cock, her little belly bulging out trying to accommodate the insertion. The dog man's furry hand is holding Kira around her torso and using her like a toy to pleasure himself.

"You better pay attention to me if you want to get in today, little slut." The cat girl says as she turns your head back towards her and pulls your face even deeper. 

You gag, but the massive cock wedged in your throat prevents the sounds from escaping, and you see her eyes close as she moans. The woman's thrusts are becoming harder and you think she is about to cum. With no other option, you brace yourself for it and with a loud moan, the woman unloads into your throat. 

"Ohhh yes! Take it all, and I better not see you spit any out." She moans as you feel her hot cum being blasted into your throat.

With her thick cock jammed down your throat, you couldn't even if you tried. You just sit there, gulping down what seems to be an endless supply of cum. After a minute, the woman withdraws her cock and orders you to clean it up. You look at it, covered in a mixture of her cum and your own saliva, it's still firm and bobs up and down almost twitching, waiting for you. You decide to get this over with and take the woman's cock into your mouth again and begin to lick it clean. As you slurp up the juices from the woman's cock, you can't help but think, that was definitely different, but not so bad. 

After she is satisfied with you, she says, "That's enough. You can go on in." 

You wipe the remaining cum from your lips and turn to see Kira's tiny pussy being overfilled with the dog man's cum. He lifts the tiny fairy off his cock and cum pours out from Kira's small, gaping pussy like a small waterfall. He sets her on his desk and Kira rubs her still bulging belly as the torrent of cum subsides. 

"You're free to go ladies." The man says before pulling a rag from the desk to clean himself up with. You and Kira awkwardly get dressed and finally enter Valen City.


	6. Valen City

As the wooden gate creaks shut behind you, you are greeted to a somewhat normal scene. Market stalls and storefronts line the main road with a large fountain in the city center. The buildings are made of old stone with wooden trim and the whole city reminds you of something you would read about in a fantasy novel. Vendors, customers, and citizens all going about their lives. Of course this is Thanos, and you also see numerous people scantily clad or outright nude walking around and conversing with people like it's normal. 

For a moment, you are lost in awe until Kira says, "We can check out the shops later, come on. Vivienne lives over this way." Kira leads you down a few alleys and soon you are back on a street. "She's usually at the bar but she's been trying to become a seamstress, so maybe she's at home sewing." 

You pass a few more buildings before Kira stops and says, "This is it! I remember that old tree out front." She says pointing to a very old looking tree in front of a cozy little house. Kira glides up to the front door and looks at you. 

"Well? She's not gonna hear it if I try knocking." She says staring at you. 

Makes sense. You knock a few times and wait for a response. You can hear movement within the house and after a moment a woman opens the door. Kira wasn't joking, Vivienne is beautiful. Her skin is a soft ivory color and she is slightly taller than you. She has short brown hair, almost to her shoulders, and light green eyes while her breasts have to be D cups, at least you think so. 

Vivienne's long, slender legs are so smooth you have a hard time looking away until she says, "Kira! How wonderful to see you again. And who is this?" Vivienne asks, looking at you. 

"Well it's a long story, can we come in?" Kira replies. 

"Of course, make yourselves at home, I just brewed some tea." Vivienne says. 

You follow Kira inside a shut the door behind you. Vivienne leads you to a small table and says she will be back. Kira gently floats down and lands on the table. 

"I gotta get in better shape. My wings are tired." She says as she stretches her arms. 

"Thanks for coming with me Kira. I don't think I would have made it very far without you." You admit. 

"Haha, you're right about that!" Kira laughs. The way she laughs is actually pretty cute and you let out a small laugh. 

"Alright then, what's so funny?" Vivienne asks as she enters the room with a tray of teacups. 

The three of you sit down and have a long conversation about your situation. Vivienne also informs you about life in the city. 

"It is quite common for people to be taken in as slaves around here." She explains. "Some are sold by their destitute families, others volunteer out of desperation, or maybe they actually like it, who knows? Some slaves are used simply as maids or cooks while others are slaves in every sense of the word, it just depends on who's buying. Owning slaves is a kind of status in town, the wealthiest have a ton of slaves, but most nobles only have a few. Even though sex isn't looked down upon, most people tend to keep it private. That's not to say we have a shortage of people who think differently. Just down the road is a brothel, and it makes more money than any other business in town. It's like that in most cities in fact, seeing how they're all run by the same person." Vivienne explains while drinking a glass of what you assume is wine.

You wonder how different this world was before the corruption. "So, about my friend..." You ask hesitantly, afraid she might say no. 

"Hmm. I'm going to be honest, the idea of delving into a goblin's lair doesn't excite me in the least. I am trying to become a seamstress after all." You look down and wait for her rejection but she says, "On the other hand, it's not often I see another pure being, so I suppose I should help you." 

You are overjoyed but also confused. "Pure being?" You ask to which Vivienne smiles.

"My, you really aren't from this world are you? A pure being is someone that hasn't been physically affected by the corruption. On some level, it influences everyone's mind, but those who haven't been transformed are called pure beings." The elf explains. 

You ask Vivienne, "Do you have a plan in mind to rescue Gwen?" 

"A plan? Yeah, we sneak in and when we find them, we bash their fucking skulls before they know what hit them!" Vivienne slams her hand down on the table, making Kira bounce slightly. "Oops, sorry about that, I was only joking! Hahahaha!" 

Vivienne laughs it off but you give Kira a concerned look and she just smiles. Maybe this is why she warned you not to piss her off. Seems like good advice. 

"It's a bit late, so why don't we set out first thing in the morning?" Vivienne suggests. 

"But what about Gwen?" You ask. 

"Goblins are simple minded creatures sweetie. Unless someone else has cleared them out and saved your friend already, they will still be there. It's best not to rush into a battle, the goblins are nocturnal, I'm surprised they even bothered with you and your friend in broad daylight, but I suppose you two would be easy targets. If you have that much energy, perhaps I could teach you a thing or two about archery?" Vivienne reasons.

Vivienne gives you an inquisitive look and you realize you don't really have a plan for fighting the goblins yourself. You did take martial arts lessons when you were younger, but you don't know how much that will help you here. 

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea." You say and with that, Vivienne leads you out back where she has a target set up to practice on. 

At first you weren't sure how it would go, but to your surprise, you are learning very quickly. Within an hour, you can consistently hit the target and Vivienne is pleased. 

"Very good Mika! I thought you said you've never used a bow before?" She praises.

"I haven't." You reply. "It just feels natural, I don't know..." 

"Well whatever it is, your a damn good shot girl!" Vivienne says as she puts the bow away and leads you back inside. 

"Aww, look at that." Vivienne says softly while pointing to the table. 

You look and see Kira, who apparently took some fabric Vivienne had lying around and made herself a little bed. You smile and shake your head as Vivienne leads you to a small bedroom. 

"Get some sleep hon, we're gonna kick ass tomorrow." Vivienne smiles and closes the door. You hope everything will be alright and fall asleep thinking about being reunited with Gwen.


	7. Complications

A rooster announces the sunrise and for a moment, you forget about everything. You stretch out, eyes still closed, and take a deep breath. You open your eyes and sit up, ready to meet the day. You see a small bookshelf with only three books on it and a small wardrobe in the corner. Out of the nearby window, you see the old tree in front of Vivienne's house. You hang your head for a moment as it all comes back, but you are as ready as you're going to be, so you get out of bed and head for the front room. 

As you enter you see Kira, still sleeping on her makeshift bed. Vivienne is sitting on a couch on the opposite side of the room cleaning what appears to be armor. 

"Good morning, sleep well? I know she is." Vivienne says pointing at Kira and smiling. 

"Yes, and thank you, for everything."You reply. You know you couldn't do this alone, but with these two you just might pull it off. 

"Don't worry about it, if I didn't want to help you I wouldn't. Why don't you try these on while I wake her up?" Vivienne says handing you some thick leather pieces and a metal breastplate. 

You put on the metal armor and figure out the leather is for your arms and legs. After strapping them on you feel a bit heavier, but much safer going into a real fight. Someone whistles as if checking you out and you turn around quickly to see Kira trying to take her fingers away from her lips. 

Vivienne smiles and stands up as she says, "Are we ready to go?" 

"Yeah!" Kira cheers and her wings start fluttering as she hovers above the table. 

Vivienne grabs her bow and quiver and gives one of each to you as well. "And take this as well." She says handing you a small knife in a sheathe. "Better safe than sorry." She says with a smile. "Let's not waste any more time then, we're off." 

With that, the three of you head out of town. As you exit the massive city gates and step into the wilderness, Vivienne says in a serious tone, "If things get bad in there, you should just run, alright Mika?" 

You look at the elven woman and reply, "No. I won't leave my friend in that place a minute longer than I have to. I'm ready to stop being helpless in this world. Even if I have to learn the hard way, I won't give up!" 

Vivienne and Kira stay silent for a moment, they haven't seen you this determined before. 

"She must mean a lot to you." Kira says with a sad look on her face. 

"We grew up together and have always had each others backs. Gwen is, so kind. I just hate the fact that she's been in some monster's lair for days now." You reply. 

You clench your fist and are determined to show those goblins your wrath. Passing by the tree you and Gwen first were separated at, Vivienne stops and kneels down to touch the dirt. 

"It looks like the tracks from the cart are still visible. As I said, not very intelligent. We can probably follow this straight to their lair." Vivienne stands up and begins following the tracks, all the while scanning her surroundings with her superior eyesight and ears. After a while, the tracks lead you to a rocky outcropping along a riverbank. "Hmm, tracks end here, but I don't see a cart. They're most likely set up in a cave nearby, let's follow the river a bit and check behind those big rocks." Vivienne says as she carefully makes her way downstream. 

You and Kira are close behind, looking for any sign of the goblins. As you reach a bend in the river, Vivienne notices a cave entrance just big enough for a cart. The three of you slowly make your way to the entrance and peek inside. The cave is mostly dark, but you can see the faint glow of a fire on a wall not too far in. Vivienne crouches down and picks up a small, crude looking broken axe. 

"This is the place, are you two ready?" Vivienne asks.

You nod in unison with Kira as your heart is pounding away. This is it, you have to fight for your life, and Gwen's. You brace yourself for what is about to come. 

"Follow me and stay quiet. If we're lucky, we can take out a few before they notice us. We don't know how many are in there, so be careful. Alright? Let's go." Vivienne says and wastes no time, skillfully infiltrating the cave. 

You follow behind, being as quiet as possible, meanwhile Kira hovers around without making a sound. Vivienne rounds a corner, then immediately retreats and presses her back to the wall. You stop dead in your tracks, and Vivienne slowly pokes her head around the corner. She reaches back, silently grabs an arrow, and aims her bow. You wait in uncertainty as Vivienne's bow follows its target, then with a snap, the arrow flies out of your sight around the corner. You hear a gurgling sound and then a thud. Vivienne waves you over and you continue deeper into the cave, but she has a troubled look on her face. 

You pass by the slain goblin before whispering, "What's wrong?" 

Vivienne stops for a moment, points to the ceiling and whispers, "Do you see that?" 

You look up and see spider webs. Only they are much thicker than a normal spider's, and they continue deeper into the cave, slowly making their way down the rocky walls. You remember Kira mentioning spider girls and your heart sinks. You were ready to deal with some little goblins, but a spider with the intelligence of a human? Suddenly you feel like this isn't going to end well, but you stand by what you said. You're not going to run away, not when Gwen needs you. 

"Be extra cautious, and try to keep an eye on the ceiling." Vivienne whispers before pressing on. 

Soon you come to a decent sized room in the cave. The walls are covered in webbing and a few goblins lay dead off to one side. You follow Vivienne over to the goblins and she begins inspecting them. 

"It looks like they weren't killed by the spider." Vivienne states as you lean in and see four jagged cuts on the chest of one of the goblins. It looks like whatever cut them went right through the leather it was using as chest protection. "Spiders can't do something like this, but I wonder why they haven't fed on them yet." 

Kira nervously scans the ceiling as you ask, "Then what killed them?" 

Vivienne has a serious look on her face when she says, "I can't say for sure, but a demon would have sufficient strength to cut that deeply, and their claws are known to be very sharp." 

A fucking demon. Great, just when you thought it couldn't get worse. You just need to find Gwen, then you can get the hell out of here. You don't see anyone else in the room but you notice another passage covered in webs. 

"Vivienne look." You point out your discovery and the three of you get closer. 

The webs are hard to cut down but Kira uses her magic to set them aflame. The passage leads downward and you hope it doesn't go very far, but there isn't any light down there so it's impossible to tell. Kira opens a tiny pouch and pulls out a staff of some kind that is way to big to fit in a pouch that size. You chalk it up to magic and disregard it as her eyes glow a familiar blue and she chants a spell. A small glowing orb appears at the end of the staff and she points it into the passage. The light is so small it hardly makes a difference, but it's better than nothing and you, Kira, and Vivienne make your way down. 

At the bottom, the passage opens up to a room even larger than the previous. On the walls, you see the shriveled up bodies of all manner of creatures tightly wrapped in webbing. Undeterred, you look around for Gwen, but she's nowhere in sight. 

"Let's look around, we might..." A quick series of clicks cuts Vivienne's words short and she snaps her head around looking for the source. 

You follow Vivienne's gaze to a dark corner of the room. High up near the ceiling, six small beady red eyes shine dimly. For a moment, you think maybe this spider isn't so big after all. Then a huge dark shape descends from the ceiling before turning over and standing up. The girl has a huge spider abdomen attached where her legs would be. She has eight spider legs covered in black chitin and even though she isn't fully standing, she is much taller than you. Her face is humanoid except for her eyes, six on her forehead and two in the normal spot that she hasn't opened yet. Her human half is nude, her breasts proudly on display. 

The spider girl moves a lock of her silver hair from her face and hisses, "Have you come to kill the big bad spider?" She taunts. 

She talks! Guess that shouldn't surprise you given she's half human but still, you weren't expecting it. 

"N-no." You start explaining. "I'm just looking for my friend, she has blonde hair and..." 

Before you can finish the spider girl's two eyes snap open and she hisses, "That girl? She brought demons into my home! I was almost killed! You... you're her friend? I should rip you in half to teach her a lesson!" 

She screams and lunges at you. Vivienne pushes you out of the way and you fall down as the spider girl's powerful legs crash into the stone wall next to you. You get up quickly and draw your bow, your first arrow missing by inches. This spider girl is fast, however Vivienne hits her abdomen cleanly. 

"Aahhhh!" She roars in pain and spins around, unleashing her webbing in Vivienne's direction. 

Vivienne tries to evade but her legs are hit and become tethered to the ground. 

"Shit!" Vivienne yells as she struggles to free herself. 

Kira flies over to help untangle Vivienne and you know you have to distract this monster somehow. You draw your bow and take a deep breath. You release the arrow and it glides right into the spider girl's shoulder. Blood pours from the wound as she yanks the arrow free and hisses at you. The spider girl quickly runs up a wall and makes her way toward you. You don't have enough time to fire another shot so you roll to the side just as she lunges for you. 

Barely escaping that time, you feel you luck is running out and glance at Vivienne, still stuck in webbing. You turn back to the spider girl and know she isn't going to stop until someone is dead. You stare at the woman sitting atop that giant spider belly, waiting for her to make a move. You don't have to wait long as she charges straight for you. You quickly reach behind your back and brandish the knife Vivienne gave you and begin running towards her and when she is about to strike, you feint a dodge and jump straight at the human half of her. The spider girl is caught off guard, but she still manages to catch you with her human arms. Before she can react you plunge the blade deep into her chest. 

"Aakhh!" The spider girl drops you to the floor as she stumbles backward clutching her wound and coughing up blood. 

You quickly get up and check yourself to make sure you are not injured then focus on the spider girl slumped against a wall. Kira burns through the last of the webbing and Vivienne breaks free. 

"Did you get her?" Vivienne asks. 

"Yeah." You nod. 

"Then let's get out of here already." Kira says looking around the room fearfully. 

"Not yet, I need to know more about what happened to Gwen." You say as you walk over to the defeated spider girl. 

Surprisingly, she seems to be slowly stuffing her webbing into the wound and perhaps isn't quite defeated yet, but one look at the spider girl's face says it all. She is done and looks to you with a fearful look in her eyes. She slowly rolls onto her back and you look to Kira confused. 

"It's alright Mika, she isn't going to hurt us anymore, right?" Kira says confidently. 

The spider girl lowers her head and shakes it, signaling she is no longer a threat. 

"You see, their animalistic instincts are very strong. They assert their dominance when possible, but if overpowered, they submit themselves to the victor instead of fighting until they die." Vivienne adds.   
You take another look at the spider girl and you see now that she rolled over to expose herself to you. You suddenly blush and turn your head from the spider girl. 

"Uhh... No I, I just want to talk." You say shyly. 

"To...talk. To me?" The spider girl seems confused and it's clear she doesn't get many willing visitors. 

"Yes, about my friend. I'm sorry demons showed up here, but Gwen didn't call them. She was kidnapped by goblins and we followed their tracks here." You explain. 

"I see." Hisses the spider girl. "Those goblins brought her here to try to keep me away from their cave. Some kind of offering or something. I had no sooner accepted their terms when demons burst in and killed the goblins. I tried to grab the girl but one of the demons knocked me aside. That demon... had the coldest blue eyes. They took her and left as fast as they appeared. That is all I know." 

You feel terrible that Gwen is still suffering and look to Vivienne for advice. Kira turns her head to look away and Vivienne says, "I'm sorry Mika, but if the demons have her, there's no way to get her back. They're just too strong." 

You slam your fist against the stone wall. "No! I can't stop. I don't care if they are demons, I'm going to save Gwen!" You exclaim, holding back tears. 

"Mika..." Kira says softly. 

"You would fight against the corruption, knowing the futility?" The spider girl surprises you with her sudden interjection. 

"I don't know how much I can accomplish on my own, but it doesn't matter, I'm going to do everything I can to rescue my friend." 

The spider girl looks to a nearby wall and points near the bottom. "In there, take it. If you can turn back the corruption, then maybe... I can go back to the way I was before." The spider girl says meekly.   
Then that means, this girl is incredibly old and yet she looks to be about your age. As you ponder the lifespans of the other inhabitants of this world, you feel sorry for her and make your way to the spot she pointed out. Near the bottom of the wall, a single stone juts out contrasting the otherwise uniform surface. You pull it out and inside the cavity is a small cache of gold coins. 

"Arens!" Exclaims Kira. "They're our currency, and this is a lot!" Kira happily buzzes around the opening, inspecting the treasure. 

You walk back to the spider girl and say, "Thank you, I promise to do everything I can to put an end to the corruption." 

The spider girl gets up and silently crawls back up onto the ceiling. You, Kira, and Vivienne also make for the exit. 

"So, who else is glad that's over? Hahaha!" Kira jokes. 

"Yes, that got out of hand." Vivienne remarks, but all you can think about on the long walk back to Valen City is what kinds of horrible things the demons are doing to Gwen.


	8. Romulus

Back in Valen City, you want to discuss what to do next with Vivienne and Kira. 

"Let's stop in here, I think you could use a drink." Vivienne suggests. 

Alcohol does sound tempting after all you've been through, so you agree and head inside a tavern. Quite a few people are in the bar but what catches your eye is a centaur girl. You can only see her back, but her dark black hair complements her olive colored skin very well. She is wearing a white tank top and has what must be a custom tailored plaid skirt for her horse body. Sure all of this is new to you, but your curiosity peaked when you saw her. 

"Best not to stare hon." Vivienne whispers in your ear as she walks by you and sits at the bar. Taking her advice, you sit down next to her. 

"What can I get ya?" The bartender asks cheerfully. He is a jaguar, or some kind of cat, and his fur is jet black. He looks much more like an animal walking upright than a human, and you guess transformations have varying degrees. 

"Two glasses of Fenti wine please." Vivienne replies.

Kira chimes in and says, "Hey what about me?" 

"Oh and a small glass of juice." Vivienne says with a smile. 

"Not funny Viv, you know I'm older than you!" Kira huffs and puffs. 

The bartender looks confused and then Vivienne says "I'm only joking Kira, three glasses of Fenti wine please. I'll finish the rest of hers." She smiles and gestures in Kira's direction. 

"Of course." The bartender retreats to a cabinet and returns with an expensive looking bottle of wine and three glasses. 

He fills them up and puts a small straw used for decoration in Kira's drink. At her size, she can use it like a normal straw and she says "Thank you my good sir." With a grin on her face she takes a big drink. 

"So Mika, do you know what you're going to do now?" Vivienne asks before taking a drink of wine. 

You idly stare at the red liquid in your glass. "Not really, but I can't just stay here doing nothing." You reply. 

"I'm sorry about your friend Mika, truly, but if you try to fight a demon, you will die. Do you understand?" Her tone is serious and she is looking you right in the eye. 

"I have to find a way..." You begin. 

Vivienne cuts you off and says, "Mika, people have tried killing demons for years and only two things ever happen. The people fighting the demon die, and even if they kill it, more demons will come to finish them off. We've been living in this place our whole lives, we've tried everything we could think of, but nothing has worked. In the end, I suppose we just accepted that they are now part of this world." Vivienne rationalizes. 

"I know, Kira told me about The Guardians, I just.... there has to be a way." You are adamant about this, despite what she says, you believe there has to be a way for you to save Gwen. 

"Mika, I admire what your trying to do, but, I'm sorry, I'm not going to go on a suicide mission because you won't accept the facts. I can't help you if your planning on fighting demons. If it's something else, we can talk, but that's where I draw the line." Vivienne is stern and you can't blame her for not wanting to risk her life. 

"I understand. Thank you for everything you've done Vivienne. Maybe I will get killed, but I don't care as long as I can save Gwen." You say with a soft smile. 

You don't know what your next move should be but you feel like you could use some air. You finish your wine and look over at Kira. She has barely drank any wine and yet she is laying on her back on the bar, giggling. 

Your not sure now is a great time but decide to say it anyways, "Kira, you don't have to risk your life for me either, I'm glad you helped me and..." 

Kira sits up suddenly and cuts you off in a drunken tone, "Hey! Donchoo go sayin goodbye, I'm not finished with you!" Kira hiccups and continues, "Don't think you can juss walk outta here. We're friends till the end! Whooooo!" 

Kira raises her arms quickly and falls back onto the bar and into a deep sleep. You and Vivienne share a final laugh before you step outside. As you walk aimlessly down unfamiliar streets, you become aware of someone following you. Maybe being alone isn't such a good idea. You still have quite a bit of coin left over from the spider nest, maybe you could hire a mercenary or something, but you need to get rid of this stalker first. You round a corner quickly and duck into a bookstore. 

Hiding behind a book you wait for your pursuer to come around the corner. A small cat girl with short dark red hair wearing an overcoat makes her way past the shop and looks around as if she's trying to find someone. This is who was stalking you? She is wearing glasses and her tail is flicking around behind her. You decide to end this right now, she doesn't seem threatening after all. You put the book down and step outside, walking quietly up to the cat girl from behind. Before you get close, her ears perk up and she quickly turns around to face you. 

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, before you ask, "Why are you following me?" The cat girl responds, "I'm Salem, I brew special potions. Did I hear you say you were going to fight demons?" She says coyly. You aren't sure what her intentions are, but she said she brews 'special' potions? What did she mean by that? 

You reply, "Yes, I don't know how yet, but I have to find a way." 

"Well then, I have something you might be interested in." Salem smiles and motions for you to follow her. 

You are almost certain this is some kind of set up, but if she's telling the truth, maybe there is a way to fight the demons. You cautiously follow the cat girl as she leads you down one alley after another. After a little while you stop, thinking you should just turn back. 

"Come on, I don't bite, I want to show you my shop. I have to do my research back here because not everyone thinks I should be making these potions, but that doesn't stop them from buying them. I guess that's why I don't get arrested either, so don't worry, everything is legit, you'll see." Salem says leading you down yet another alley.

A short time later, you come to an iron door at the end of an alley. Upon entering your suspicions are confirmed. Everything is not legit. About twenty desks and tables are set up all over this small dimly lit warehouse looking building. Beakers, vials, and test tubes are set up in intricate formations and some are hooked up to machines that look homemade. A set of four large shelves line one of the back walls. Vials very similar to the one used on you when you were first attacked are placed on the shelves and you move in closer to investigate. 

"Hmm? Something catch your eye?" The cat girl says as she approaches.

Salem comes right up behind you and places her hands on your shoulders. She looks to the shelf and takes a bottle of brownish liquid and says with a smile, "What a discerning eye! Yes, this is Equinum. This baby will give you a cock the size of a horse! Haha!" 

You turn to face her and say with a disgusted face, "What? Why would I want that?" 

Salem just laughs and says, "Why not? It's not like you lose your lady parts, you get the best of both worlds! Hahaha!" 

You shake your head and wonder if this is why people complain about her potions, but then why would they buy them? "Do you have any that won't make me grow a dick?" You ask the cat girl. 

"Of course!" She puts the Equinum back on the shelf and picks up a bottle containing a milky white liquid. "This is Bovium, drink this and your boobies will fill up with all natural milk! You can even squeeze 'em and milk will shoot out!" Salem has an expression on her face that is all too excited about what she just described. 

"I think I'm gonna go." You say turning around to the exit. 

"Wait! That's not why I brought you here! I was just showing you some of my other work. That's all." Salem looks desperate now and you wonder if the next one is really different. 

"What is it?" You ask, expecting a ridiculous answer. 

"I call it, Romulus." She says dramatically as she presents you with a vial filled with a gold liquid. "I've been trying to create a potion that will dramatically enhance a person's physical capabilities in extreme situations. In theory, drinking this will cause a person to become incredibly strong as well as resilient. During testing however, most of my lab rats kept increasing their muscle mass until they exploded. Hahaha!" 

You really hope she meant actual mice and not, something else. "I don't really feel like exploding today, thanks." You say handing the bottle back to Salem quickly. 

"Hahaha! You're funny, I said that was during testing, I've stabilized it since then. The effects only last about five minutes, but they will be incredible. After that you should return to your original size." Salem says with a sly smile.

You seriously doubt things would go that smoothly if you drank this concoction. You politely refuse and as Salem tries to offer you something else, you make for the door. You reach out for the handle when suddenly, the door flies open, hitting you in the face and knocking you down. 

"Salem! I know your here, come out or I'll kill your little friend!" A gruff voice barks orders and you notice he's pointing a large dagger at you. 

The man is part bear, maybe, and he looks pissed off. You look behind the counter to where Salem was standing a moment ago, but no one is there. 

"Salem you bitch, get out here!" He roars furiously. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Salem rising from behind the counter. "It's not very nice to burst in like that." Salem remarks, but this only makes things worse. 

"Shut the fuck up! You sold something to my daughter and now she's got a cock! What the fuck is wrong with you?" The bear man roars again. 

Salem retorts, "I don't know who you're referring to, but I clearly explain what my potions do before someone buys them. Isn't that right, Mika?" 

Why did she drag you into this! You hesitantly respond as the bear now focuses his attention on you, "Umm... Yeah?" 

"Oh so you're on her side, huh? Well my daughter did not want that, and I'm gonna make sure you can't do this again!" The man says as he flips one of the tables, sending the glass tubes flying to the floor. 

They shatter and the bear roars again. Salem quickly runs over to you and tries to hand you the bottle of Romulus. 

You push it back to her and say, "This isn't my fight. I have nothing to do with this!" 

The bear man snorts and says, "I'm going to kill both of you!" 

Salem quickly comments, "I don't think he's gonna be picky here." 

How can she joke at a time like this? You don't have time to figure it out as the bear takes a swipe at the two of you. You roll left and Salem dodges right. The bear looks toward you and charges. Not knowing what to do, you dodge at the last moment and run to the opposite side of the room, where Salem again presents you with the bottle of Romulus. 

"Why don't you just drink it?" You ask annoyed at her apparent disregard for even her own life. 

"It wouldn't work on me." Salem says. "I've experimented a bit too much on myself. My genetics are all over the place. I'm surprised I still look like this!" She says almost happily. 

Damn, so it's either drink that potion and possibly explode, or get mauled by a bear. There's hardly time to decide as the man has moved close enough to strike again. This time, Salem follows you as you both narrowly escape the bear's claws. She places the bottle in your hands, then turns to face the bear. Salem hisses and pounces at him, only for her to be knocked out of the air and thrown across the room. 

It's now or never, so you uncork the vial and chug the shimmering gold liquid. A burning sensation intensifies around your arms and legs and you suddenly feel like your growing. You aren't getting taller, but you realize your muscles are bulking up. 

The bear takes another swipe at you but this time you effortlessly avoid it. Salem wasn't kidding, you feel like you could actually win this fight, but your muscles haven't stopped growing yet. The next time the bear attacks, instead of dodging, you grab the bear's arm with one hand and stop it. He tries to claw your stomach, but you grab that arm too. You're wrestling a bear and actually winning. This is crazy. No time to think though, as the bear pushes forward and you lose your grip on one of his arms and he immediately stabs you in the gut. 

You look down only feeling a slight pain and realize the bear's claws barely went in. Damn! This potion is really working! You push the bear back hard and he flies across the room slamming into a table. The beakers fall to the ground with a spectacular crash, and the bear man rises to his feet. 

"Listen, I don't want to..." you begin to say, but he roars, cutting you off and charges again. 

You decide not to hold back, stand your ground, and hit him square in the jaw. The bear flies into a corner where he slumps over, arms outstretched, limply fighting an invisible opponent. You marvel at your own strength before remembering that you might explode. Thankfully, your muscles have stopped growing, although they are grotesquely large and well defined. You look like a bodybuilder. Very unhappy with the new you, you are overjoyed when you notice them slowly shrinking a few minutes later. 

After a few more minutes, you are almost back to your original size. Utterly shocked this potion worked as intended, you keep searching for some part of you that hasn't shrunk or something like that, but everything seems in order. 

"Salem, are you alright?" You ask. 

"Oh I'm fine, but how did you like the potion?" Salem asks as she gets up and dusts herself off. 

"It was weird, anyways, what about him?" You say gesturing towards the unconscious bear. 

"Don't worry about him, he did smash up my shop and try to kill us, I'm sure the guards will want to speak with him." She says before kicking the man in the crotch.

You feel the need to pee so you ask Salem if there is a restroom here. 

"Yeah, it's over there." She says, pointing to a hallway. "Be careful around that glass though." 

You nod and carefully step around the broken shards of glass to the hallway. There is only a single door, so you open it and step into the bathroom. Salem begins sweeping up the glass on the floor when she hears you scream. Salem burst into the bathroom to find you and your new cock sitting on the toilet. 

"Oh dear, I thought something bad happened." She says as she turns to leave. 

"What the hell Salem? You didn't mention that I would end up like this!" You yell. 

"Calm down, it might not even be permanent." Is her response. 

You are at a loss for words and almost feel like exploding would have been better. You look down at your cock, it's probably around six or seven inches long, and at least it's human looking. What are you even saying? You don't want to have a cock, you're a girl and you liked it that way! You pull up your pants and walk out silently as Salem tries to convince you to drink another of her concoctions to reverse the effects. 

Unsure of anything, you wander around town a bit before you realize you're standing in front of Vivienne's house. You remember how proud she was about being 'pure' and think she might not want to be around you now. You eventually find an inn and get a cheap room. You lay on the bed and fall asleep wondering if you will be like this forever.


	9. Prophecy

You awaken to find it's well past morning already. A quick glance under your pants confirms your fears. You still have a cock. You gather your things and leave the inn unsure of what you should do next, when you hear your name being called. The voice is familiar and you turn around and see Kira flying towards you. You don't know what to say, you want to tell her everything, but you don't want her to be disgusted with you. 

Kira reaches out and hugs your face as she says, "Hey, I thought I told you not to leave last night?"

You look at Kira longing for a friend. 

"I meant what I said, friends till the end!" She cheers. 

You decide to tell her but want to find a better place. You return to the inn with Kira and rent another room. 

"Well, what is it? What's wrong? You look like your about to cry." Kira asks with concern. 

You lay your head down on the bed and let it out. Through the sobbing you tell Kira about your meeting with Salem, and your new 'equipment'. 

Kira thinks for a moment before saying, "Ok so you have a cock now, no biggie, you can still kick some demon ass right?" She is trying to be helpful, you can tell that much, but it isn't working. "And about Vivienne, she wouldn't look down on you or anything for something like this." 

You wonder if she's just telling you that or if it's true, but can't help feeling sorry for yourself. You know Gwen must have it much worse, but this is still a huge change for you. You can't think clearly and decide to get some more rest. 

"Don't worry, I'll be right here ok?" Kira says trying to comfort you. 

You smile and nod off shortly after you close your eyes. You dream about your old life, but for some reason you become aroused. Your cock begins to stiffen and you feel a new sensation as you timidly grab hold of your cock. 'So this is, what it's like?' You think to yourself as you moan and your fingers pass over the tip. It's so sensitive! 

You feel your pussy getting wet and it almost feels like something is rubbing against your clit. You enjoy this new found pleasure and stroke your cock a bit faster. 'Oohh, it feels so good...' You moan and begin rubbing one of your nipples with your free hand as you pump your hand even faster. It almost feels like your hand is smaller than normal, but with your climax rapidly approaching, it hardly matters. The intense build up of pleasure reaches its breaking point, and you cum for the first time. 

Your cock spurts your seed into the air and it lands back on your chest and hands. Each eruption feels heavenly and when you open your eyes you see Kira is naked, tightly hugging your cock, and covered in sperm. You don't know what to say and just stare at her. 

Kira wipes a big glob of cum from her face and licks it before saying, "Wow that was a lot, huh? Do you like, never get off?" Her question makes your cock twitch and you feel embarrassed. 

"Why did you do that?" Is the only thing you can think to say. 

"I don't know, I just saw it was all hard through your pants and wanted a look. Then I thought, maybe you won't hate it so much if it feels really good." She says as she licks her hands clean.

You can't deny that felt amazing, but you question her methods. Is this corruption, or maybe she's just really kinky? You get up and clean yourself off while Kira showers in the sink. Thinking back to what Kira said about Vivienne, even if she doesn't care that you have a cock now, she still won't help you against the demons. You decide it's best not to involve her further and look for help elsewhere. 

"Mika?" Kira says from her makeshift shower, "There's a really pretty lake just outside of town. We probably won't find any help there, but it might help get your mind off of things for a while." 

You wonder if it's worth the time but since you don't have a plan of action, you agree to head to the lake. You and Kira leave the inn and soon you are outside Valen City. Walking the opposite direction from where you first arrived, the landscape behind the city is mostly comprised of farmlands. Passing them, you see cows and chickens, the first full fledged animals you have seen since coming to this strange place. After a while you reach the edge of the farmlands. Beyond them lies some low hills, and you can just barely make out what looks like a small forest behind them. 

"The lake is in there." Kira says, pointing to the trees. 

As you approach, you can't help but feel like you're being watched. Over the last hill you see the lake through the treeline, it's surface catching the daylight and reflecting it onto the trees. You and Kira sit by the water's edge. 

"See? Told ya, it's nice huh?" Kira asks. 

"Yeah it's peaceful here." You say to her. "Being here reminds me of when I was back home." You look at Kira and ask about where she came from. 

"The Floating City. It's the last place fairies are safe from the demons. The elders put up a barrier that won't let anything corrupted inside. They don't have enough power to take on the demons though, the best they can do is put up a shield around the city." Kira says nonchalantly.

"So they make the city float and protect it against demons? That's amazing." You say trying to imagine it. 

"It sounds cool, but it's really boring up there. Everyone is uptight and they think they are better than the other races because we haven't been corrupted as much. I just couldn't stand living in ignorance up there any longer so I left." Kira says unashamedly. 

"Could you return if you wanted to?" You ask her. 

"I don't know, I've been living down here for almost thirty years, I don't know how much the corruption has affected me, but it's not like I want to go back anyway." Kira says confidently.

Kira seems content with her life away from the other fairies and then you have an idea. With all the crazy things going on in this world, would it really be that outlandish if you were to learn magic? Is that even possible? 

You turn to Kira and ask, "Hey Kira, have you ever heard of a human using magic?" 

Kira ponders this for a moment before saying, "Well, when The Guardians first formed, there were a few men who supposedly wielded magic against the demons. They say they were really powerful mages, but when The Guardians dissolved, they disappeared. Most people can use magic but they were definitely the strongest. Actually, There was one man I remember from the stories." 

"I see, and no one knows where he went?" You ask inquisitively. 

"Towards High Rock." Kira says pointing to a mountain in the distance. "But that was a few hundred years ago. He was a human after all, it's not like he would still be alive." Kira points out. 

"Yes, but what if he had some books or research that I could learn from?" You say as you look toward the mountain in the distance.

Kira jumps to her feet and says, "Yeah, who knows, you seem pretty lucky after all, but there's one small catch." You look hesitantly at Kira awaiting her explanation. "Everything has a natural frequency. Magical energy requires a person to tune their own frequency to the whatever spell they want to cast. That's why most people chant when they cast a spell, they're matching their frequency to the spell. Changing your own frequency is really hard though and not many people can do it unless they're born with that ability or spend most of their lives training. I've heard that there is a way to unlock a person's magical potential, but I've never seen it for myself." 

"So, there might be a way after all? I just need to learn more about magic first. If I could use magic, maybe I could actually fight against the demons." You think aloud. 

"Here let me try something." Kira says as she floats over to you. 

She places her tiny hands on either side of your head and closes her eyes. At first you feel nothing, and as you're about to ask Kira what she's doing, a familiar voice enters your mind. The words are muffled and distorted and you have a hard time comprehending what is happening. 

"Sweet child... coming disaster... awaken... my champion... to the mage's den." The voice fades out as quickly as it came and Kira lowers her hands. 

"Well good news, you do have some magical potential but it's buried pretty deep." Kira says as she notices your confused expression. "What's wrong?" She asks. 

"Did you hear that just now?" You ask looking around.

Kira looks puzzled and shakes her head. "No, what was it?" 

"It sounded like a woman's voice, she said something about a disaster then she mentioned a mage's den. I think she also called me a, champion?" 

Kira's eyes widen and she exclaims, "What!? Are you sure you heard 'champion'? Was her voice angelic?" 

You don't know how to answer that. "I don't know it was, distorted or something. I could barely hear it and it kept cutting out. Why, do you know what just happened?" 

Kira shakes her head and says, "When the demons first started terrorizing people, a rumor started circulating. It said that Mara would choose a pure soul to become her champion and drive out the demons. No one has ever claimed to have been chosen by Mara before but maybe she was speaking to you? Maybe you're the champion!" 

You have doubts about that and say, "I'm not sure what I heard, but I know it definitely mentioned a mage. I think we should check out that mountain." 

High Rock is quite far from where you are now but going back to the city for the night would make it even further, so you decide to camp here for the night. You set up a small tent and have a meal with Kira. Later, you feel the need to pee, so you walk into the treeline and find a suitable bush. 

As you try to get used to doing something familiar in a new way, something catches your eye. You pull your pants up and begin walking towards the lake. On the water's surface, near the edge, a small lump sticks out, but it looks like it's made of water. Curiosity gets the better of you and you move closer. Upon closer inspection, the lump suddenly rises to reveal itself as a transparent woman, seemingly made of water, or some kind of blue slime. 

"Cum?" The woman softly speaks as she stretches her arms out to you lovingly. 

You have no idea what's going on and start to back away. The gooey woman follows you onto land and you can see her feet vanish into small puddles. 

"Cum, please?" The woman says again, continuing to advance. 

Before you can get away, the woman hugs you and you feel her, flesh?, distorting around your body. The woman leans in and starts passionately kissing you. Her tongue feels strange, capable of exerting force, but squishy when yours mashes against hers. The woman expertly undresses you and takes hold of your cock without a second thought. The feeling of her squishy hand wrapped around your cock feels heavenly, as she slowly lowers her face to the tip. You can see a smile on her face as she presses your cock against her cheek. Then she presses harder and it goes right through her cheek into her mouth. You can see her tongue moving around as she diligently sucks on your cock. Maybe the corruption is getting to you after all, because you have no intention of stopping this woman. 

You place your hands on the back of her head and begin thrusting into her throat. The woman offers no resistance and her unique physiology lets you pound away without worry. Your hands keep slipping off or sinking into this slimy woman but the sensation is arousing in its own way. Her throat feels wonderful as you slide in and out, aided by her natural lubrication and you feel like you're close to orgasm. 

Without thinking, you continue your assault on the woman's throat until your cock erupts and thick ropes of semen shoot down the girl's throat, which you can see coalescing near an odd dull stone in her chest. You withdraw your cock from the girl as she lays back and exposes her light blue gooey pussy to you. 

"More?" The girl asks. 

She wants more? Well you haven't been inside a pussy before so you shrug and inch closer to the dripping girl. You align your cock with her soaking entrance and begin to push it in. Mind blowing ecstasy follows. This feels incredible! Way better than having her suck on it! 

Lost in this new found pleasure, you begin hammering away at this girl's pussy with newfound vigor. With each thrust, it feels like it can't get better but somehow it does. You begin to get tired and try to pull the girl up on top of you so you can sit. Your arms go through her torso but she seems to know what you want as she rises up to sit on top of you. She rides your cock like a pro, her breasts jiggling in your face with every motion. The girl begins to spin around and is now facing away from you never letting go of your cock in the process. 

Her legs begin to envelop yours and soon her entire body is surrounding you. Your head is the only part not covered and she reaches through her belly to grab your cock and stroke it. The added sensation is too much, and your cock again spurts out rope after rope of your hot cum inside the semi transparent woman. The two of you sit there for a few moments, basking in the afterglow of sex before the woman begins sliding off of you. Her body pools near the water's edge as she looks back and caresses her chest where all your cum has gathered and made her once dull gem shine a bright crimson and smiles as she slowly slides back into the water. 

You aren't quite sure how you should feel about what just happened. You weren't raped but did you really want it or was it the corruption? You decide to not worry about it, after all you are fine and feel oddly relieved. You make your way back to camp to find Kira sleeping peacefully, although she is right in the middle of your bed. You carefully pick her up and set her on top of a fold in the blanket near the corner. This world is so vastly different than yours. You wonder how far this journey will take you as you close your eyes and fall asleep.


	10. Strength Of Will

You awaken to the sound of birds chirping in the distance. You are half surprised that no creatures disturbed you in the middle of the night. Your first camping experience did not go well after all. You wake Kira up and open the tent. 

Kira yawns and says, "All rested up. Ready to go?" 

"Yeah, lets find out what's on that mountain." You say as you pack up your campsite. 

You and Kira set out for High Rock Mountain and she informs you of the local denizens. 

"High Rock is home to most of the flying species, so expect harpies and dragons." She says calmly. 

"Dragons? Or dragon girls?" You ask for clarification. 

"Both, but I think dragon girls are more likely to be seen, actual dragons tend to hunt at night, its harder to spot them in the darkness." She says.

You are hesitant but you need to acquire more power if you want to take on the demons. After a few hours of walking, you are at the base of the mountain. From far away it looked like a normal mountain, but up close you can see why they call it High Rock. You cant even see the peak, but you begin the treacherous climb anyway. 

The arduous climb lasts for hours and more than once, you lose your footing and almost fall, but you're determined not to fail. You reach a ledge and pull yourself up. What you wouldn't give to be able to fly like Kira. Looking back you see that you are quite high up, but still the peak eludes you. Distant screeching can be heard, although it's difficult to determine where it's coming from. 

"Mika, it looks like there is a path up on that ledge." Kira says pointing upwards. 

You look up and though it looks like it will be a difficult climb you do see a path leading up the mountain. 

"Right. looks like that's our way up." You say grabbing the stone wall and pulling yourself up. 

Just as you reach the top, the rocks give way and your hand slips. You are dangling precariously by one hand high up on the cliff face. You struggle to reach back up and secure a decent grip. Kira desperately pulls with all her might and you struggle as you pull yourself up onto the ledge and roll onto your back. 

"That was close. You gotta be more careful." Kira says. 

You look in her direction but say nothing, just glad to be alive. After a few moments of rest, you stand up and look towards the path. It wraps around the mountain towards the top and although it is getting much colder this high up. 

"Shouldn't be too much farther. We're pretty high up now." Kira says in relief.

You agree and head up the path. Winding your way up the mountain, the screeching becomes more intense and occasionally, you see something swoop by out of the corner of your eye. 

"Kira, I think they're watching us." You say cautiously. 

"Well, we are in their territory, they probably have a nest around here somewhere. Let's try not to disturb them." Kira says as she floats around. 

'Easier said than done.' You think to yourself as you make your way up the narrow pathway. Eventually the path comes to a dead end. A smooth rock wall unsuitable for climbing keeps you from progressing. 

"I think I saw a wall that looked climbable back there. We should try that." You say as the two of you retrace your steps. 

You come to a stop a few minutes later. The wall looks dangerous but you have no choice, so you begin your ascent. All this climbing has you nearly exhausted and your muscles burn as you inch your way up the steep rock face. Suddenly, a large shadow blocks the light shining off the rocks. You look up and see a girl with wings floating in mid air. Crap. You're halfway up the wall and the girl is flying straight towards you. You brace for the impact and in moments the girl collides with you. 

You can clearly see now that the girl's feet look like talons and are covered in scales. Her wings are a similar light blue color and also look draconic, so you guess this must be one of the dragon girls Kira warned you about. With a screech, the dragon girl lifts you off the side of the cliff and carries you past the edge. 

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't let you fall to your death!" The woman yells at you. 

"I mean you no harm! Just please... put me down!" You say desperately hoping she doesn't just drop you. 

The dragon girl circles around the mountain making sure to keep her distance from it. 

"I just came here to find something. That's all!" You plead. 

"So you've come to plunder our home?" The girl looks irritated. 

"No! I heard a mage used to live here, I wanted to see if I could learn some of his magic." You say trying to hold on to her legs in case she drops you.

The dragon girl looks at you suspiciously before saying, "You know Lord Hakon?" 

The woman slows down now and descends to the mountain, dropping you a few inches above the ground. 

"Umm... well no, but I would very much like to meet him." You tell the dragonwoman. 

"Lord Hakon doesn't accept many visitors. Why would he want to see you?" She asks. 

"If he doesn't want to talk, I will leave, but I need to try." You reply confidently.

The dragon girl sees the determination in your eyes and says, "Very well, I am Ariadne, a faithful servant of Lord Hakon. I will bring you to him, but if he doesn't wish to speak with you, I will use force to remove you if necessary." 

"Thank you Ariadne, and I promise I will leave peacefully." You say with a relieved smile.

Ariadne grabs you again, a bit gentler this time, and lifts off carrying you towards the peak. You look around and see Kira trying to keep up. A short time later, Ariadne drops you off at the peak. There is a house here made of intricately carved stone with wooden trim. 

"Ring the bell and remember, Lord Hakon is very powerful, do not cross him." Ariadne warns you as she waves you and Kira over to the entrance. 

You walk up and reach out to ring a bell hanging from a decorative post next to the front door. 

A man's voice can be heard faintly, "Who is it? I'm busy right now." 

Knowing this is your only chance to get some answers you say, "Lord Hakon, I humbly ask for only a few moments of your time." 

Was that too formal? Did it sound weird? You look at Ariadne for some kind of hint but her face is expressionless. Then you hear movement inside the house. The door opens to reveal a man dressed in a blazing crimson robe. He looks about forty years old and his hair is a striking shade of orange. 

"And who are you supposed to be?" He says annoyed. 

Shit, better make this good or you might blow it. "I think I might be a... champion. I was hoping you could tell me more, and maybe if I really am or not." 

You stand there as Hakon looks you over. It seems like an eternity, but eventually, Hakon motions you inside. You sit in an elegant looking chair across from Hakon next to a stone fireplace. 

"So tell me, what makes you think you are a champion?" Hakon asks with a smirk.

You begin telling Hakon your story, how you and Gwen came to this world, your struggles so far, but before you are halfway, Hakon interrupts you, "That isn't what I asked. Did you come here to waste my time?" His patience is wearing thin. 

"I don't think I'm a champion, Lord Hakon. In truth all I want is to do is save my friend Gwen, but I don't stand a chance against the demons. I was hoping you would teach me some magic." You say while fearfully looking towards Hakon, awaiting his response. 

A great bellowing laugh follows a moment of silence. 

"You are very courageous, coming here and saying that, or very foolish. We will have to see which is the case before we continue." Hakon says as he stands and leads you back outside. 

Unsure of what he meant you are about to ask him when two huge icy wings come out of Hakon's back. It seems each individual 'feather' is made of pure ice and as they move, the ice silently grinds against each other, causing tiny pieces to fall and catch the sunlight. 

"If you truly are a champion, you will have Mara's blessing. Which means it will be difficult to kill you." Hakon says with a serious look on his face. "I am a demi-god, let us see how you fare against me." 

Before you can protest, Hakon charges you with blinding speed. With no time to react, Hakon easily punctures your breastplate and you feel an icy coldness in your chest. You look down and see a spear made of crystal clear ice sticking out of your chest, blood slowly flowing around the ice. You look back at Hakon who has a disappointed look on his face. He forcefully retracts his spear from your chest and you quickly collapse to the ground. Kira's tiny voice calling your name is the last thing you hear as you black out. 

You cant feel anything, is this it? Are you going to die here? Maybe this is for the best, quick and mostly painless, its not like the demons would have gone easy on you. Suddenly, it feels like a fire has been lit inside you. No! You can't die, not yet, not while Gwen needs your help. It doesn't matter how many times you fall, you will always get back up and keep trying. A faint white light appears before you and you hear that woman's voice again, only it's much clearer now. Is this really Mara? 

"Arise, my champion. Accept my blessing, that the corruption might be turned back." You feel something flowing into you, it feels like you have much more energy. You feel like you could do anything right now! "Seek the crystal, for it shall guide us both." The voice fades and you feel the cold, mountain top against your back once more. 

Opening your eyes, you slowly return to your feet as Kira and Hakon look on in amazement. Your chest hurts, though not nearly as much as it should. Your senses seem heightened and you are even able to sense the dragon girls flying around high up in the sky. 

"Is this what you wanted to see?" You ask Hakon as you inspect your wound and find that it is almost fully healed. 

"Can it be true, you really are Mara's champion?" He says in disbelief. 

"Mika, are... you alright? Your eyes, they're glowing." Kira says. 

"What? Really? I feel great!" 

"What happened? You weren't like this a moment ago?" Hakon adds. 

"I heard her voice again. She said she gave me her blessing and then told me to find a crystal." You say trying to take in all that has happened. 

"A crystal, could she mean.... please, come inside." Hakon says retracting his wings and ushering you and Kira into his home.


	11. The Crystal

You once again sit in the elegant chair while Hakon paces around the room. 

"What exactly did Mara say about the crystal?" Hakon asks you impatiently. 

"She said, seek the crystal for it shall guide us both." You reply. 

"Guide you both?" Hakon repeats. "I'm not quite sure what she means, Mara has always been the one to give guidance, but I have never known her to need it." 

"Where is Mara?" You ask. 

"I don't know. She was always a bit reclusive, preferring to bestow her blessings and let things unfold as they naturally do, however, when the demons came she was nowhere to be found. No one has heard from her since, save you." He says looking at you intensely. 

"Do you know what crystal she was talking about?" You ask trying to divert his attention from you. 

"I believe so. There was a crystal that was used when we first began fighting the demons. It seemed to adversely affect the black slime that covered the island. With the crystal in hand, we were able to secure a foothold on the island, but the demons overwhelmed us with numbers. The mage holding the crystal was picked up by a flying demon and carried off to their lair. Without the crystal, the black slime retook the island and forced us out. It was humiliating." You can see the anger in Hakon's eyes as he speaks. "I imagine the demons have the crystal locked up in that factory somewhere." He adds. 

"Mika, what about learning magic?" Kira chimes in. 

You look at her, then at Hakon. 

He sighs and says, "Normally I wouldn't, but if you really are Mara's champion, I suppose I should." 

Your face lights up and you try to contain your excitement. Hakon leads you and Kira to a balcony overlooking the mountainous landscape below. 

"Give me your hands" Hakon instructs. 

You raise your hands and place them over Hakon's upturned palms. 

"If Mara bestowed her blessing to you then you should be able to wield magic, but since you have never done it before, I am going to try to jump start the flow of magic by introducing some of my own magical energy into you." Hakon explains as eyes begin to glow.

You nod and suddenly your hands feel very cold. You see frost flowing from Hakon's hands as the cold intensifies. Your hands are trembling, partly from the cold and partly from the strange sensation flowing through your whole body. 

You feel your senses heightening again and Kira says, "Mika, your eyes are glowing again, it's kinda creepy. Is that how I look when I cast a spell too?" 

Hakon lowers his hands and says, "Now, imagine the energy you feel inside you materializing in your hand. Transforming magical energy to physical energy, like fire or lightning, is much simpler than energy to matter, like trying to conjure a sword. You would have to be very precise with it's distribution and concentration or it would be more brittle than a twig. If you could master that skill however, you could conjure a blade that could easily cut through mountains." 

You look at your hands and wonder if you could ever accomplish such a feat. 

"Don't rush things though, just try to expel the energy from your palm for now." Hakon says as he raises his hand towards the air beyond the balcony. Frost accumulates quickly around Hakon's fingers and gathers in his palm forming a neat sphere. "First, gather enough energy in your palm, then, release!" He says as the icy sphere shoots at blinding speed into the open air. 

You raise you hand and close your eyes. You try to imagine energy flowing into your hand and you can feel a tingling in your fingertips. You decide to try lightning and open your eyes, focusing on a spot mid air. Bright purple lightning crackles around your fingers as it gathers in your palm. You shoot the lightning out of your hand and it screams across the air in a continuous blast. The stream of pure electricity arcs violently through the air as you look to Hakon. 

"Mika! You must also cut the flow of magic when you are finished!" He yells over the intense crackling of the lightning. 

You try to figure out how to do that and imagine your arm like a faucet. You tap the flow of energy and the blast of lightning finally dissipates. 

"These things don't happen on their own Mika, you must be in control at all times. Magic energy is extremely unstable, and it is only through the caster that it can be controlled. If you hadn't figured out how to stop, you could have destabilized you own body and turned to ash." Hakon says with a sigh. You shudder at the thought and wish he had told you this before you tried showing off. "That's enough for now, I don't feel like rebuilding this balcony so let us enjoy a meal." Hakon says waving you back inside. 

You and Kira return to the fireplace and sit down. 

"Wow that was intense Mika!" Kira says. 

"Yeah, I'm glad I didn't blow up or something." You say half jokingly.

"You aren't the only one." Hakon says with a slight smile as he leaves the room. 

"You really did it Mika! You used magic, and it looked even stronger than what I can do!" Kira exclaims in amazement. 

You smile as you look at your hand and say, "I know, and it was easier than I thought it would be." 

"It was impressive for a beginner, but let's not forget that you had quite a bit of help." Hakon says as he enters the room carrying the food. "Mara's blessing and my own energy were deciding factors in that little display, however, you do seem to have a natural aptitude for this." Hakon says with a slight smile. 

He seems to have warmed up to you a bit and presents you and Kira with a delicious looking meal. 

"Oh wow! It looks so good!" Kira says digging in. 

"Thank you Lord Hakon, we appreciate it." You say humbly.

Hakon responds, "Please, just call me Hakon. 'Lord Hakon' is just something those dragon girls came up with when they saw me using magic to build this house. I didn't try to steal what was theirs and used a bit of magic and now they revere me. Go figure. I never asked for any of it, but now they seem to think they are my protectors." 

You wonder if it's because he's a demi-god or if it has something to do with a dragon's instincts. 

"Alright Hakon, you said you fought the demons directly right?" You ask. 

"Yes, what of it?" He responds casually. 

"I don't have any other options. If I want to save my friend and return to where we came from, I'm going to have to fight the demons. Anything you can tell me about them will help." You cut to the chase and Hakon seems to respect that. 

"They are the toughest opponents I have ever faced." His face is grim as he speaks in a serious tone, "They feel pain but seem to enjoy it, becoming more ferocious the more they are wounded. They don't have any specific weaknesses as far as I know, any weapon will do however, their strength and resilience are not to be underestimated. They are difficult to kill, wounds that would be fatal for even you or I sometimes only slow them down. In short, they are abominations that shouldn't exist in this world." 

Hakon takes a drink from a golden mug before continuing, "I mostly fought their soldiers, the ones I described, but during a particularly fierce battle, the demons suddenly stopped. They looked as if they were retreating so we pursued and found them at the entrance to the compound leading to the factory. They were bowing, lined up in perfect unison on either side of the doorway leading all the way up to where we were standing. Then the door opened and a woman stepped out. She spread her wings and glided over to us and a few other demons came out that didn't look like typical soldiers. The woman said her name was Iliya, and she had the coldest blue eyes I've ever seen." 

Wait, isn't that the same thing that spider girl said? Could Iliya be the one who took Gwen? 

"She introduced the others only as her guards, and then, she took her gown off in front of everyone!" His face is a bit flushed as he says it. "She was trying to seduce us, and some of the men couldn't resist, but I still had my spear in hand so I quickly drove it into her stomach. It completely pierced her, but she only turned to look at me and smiled. She grabbed the spear and the ice turned into that black slime so I dropped it. I felt a hand on my shoulder and suddenly heard Iliya's voice. She was still standing in front of me, being fondled by our soldiers, but it's as if another Iliya was behind me talking into my ear. She said 'I think I have enough toys for now, but be sure to come back again' and then she dug her claws into my shoulders and threw me all the way to the ocean. I couldn't use ice magic in the water. It would have taken too much energy to contain the magic to myself and not the water surrounding me, so I swam as fast as I could back to the island. By the time I returned to where Iliya was before, only the demon soldiers remained, and they were ready to fight once more. I lost track of how many I killed, but eventually one of her guards came out carrying one of our men. He was bleeding profusely and begging for his life. I began demanding his release and to see Iliya, but the beast just lifted the man up and bit off half of his head. I'll never forget that sound." 

He looks deeply affected by this, perhaps it was someone he knew? 

"The demon dropped the rest of him to the floor, as if he killed him just to spite me. I knew I didn't have much magical energy left so I used what I had remaining to bolster my physical capabilities instead of relying on a weapon that could potentially be turned against me. This demon was much larger than the others and had four horns on its head, it was also grotesquely muscular, even for something its size. I didn't want to waste any more time so I charged him and we began fighting." Hakon says before he takes another long drink from his mug. 

"As expected, he was incredibly strong and the fight quickly turned into a war of attrition. We were equally fast and although he was stronger, he fought like a beast, making his moves somewhat easier to track. I thought I could outmaneuver him and land a blow, so I attacked when I saw an opening. I landed a clean blow, blinding him in his right eye, but he whipped around and hit me with his tail. It sent me flying, right into some metal spikes the demons had set up to push us towards a focal point. They pierced my chest and abdomen and I couldn't break free. My magical energy ran out about then and I felt all the pain in full as the monster approached and said 'You're pretty good, not like those other weaklings that come here. Iliya is going to have fun with you.' After that I was brought before Iliya and she imprisoned me for three days before I recovered enough to break out and escape. I'm still not sure if they simply underestimated me, or if they allowed me to escape." Hakon says while clenching his fist. 

You just asked for advice, you didn't think it was going to get this heavy. Your situation seems as bleak as ever even with your new found power. Hakon says he would rather not say more and offers you and Kira a spare bedroom for the night. 

You accept and he leaves you with one last piece of advice before retiring to bed himself, "If you intend to fight the demons, be prepared for things to go horribly wrong." 

He shuts the door and you talk with Kira for a while about what you've learned before deciding to call it a night.


	12. The Enemy Of My Enemy

You wake up feeling more energized than usual. Perhaps it is from using magic yesterday, or returning from the dead. You're pretty sure it's one of the two. You wake Kira and the two of you make your way downstairs to the front room. Hakon is here and greets you as you enter. 

"Good morning." You and Kira reply in unison. 

Hakon motions for you to sit and then says, "I've thought it over and come up with a plan. First, you should head to Cyldell, across the swampland to the east. There is a sorceress there that specializes in repelling corruption. She can be very stubborn at times, but she is extremely talented. Her name is Priscilla. She shouldn't be too hard to find, she always did like attention. While you're there you should board one of their airships and head to Ardent City, on the western shores. I doubt they will take you all the way, but it will cut down the journey considerably. I have heard rumors that a demon lives there, but this one apparently is different than the others. I have heard that it once defended a village from a demon attack. I can't say how credible these rumors are but you know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my ally. Do not forget to practice using magic as well, it will get easier the more you cast." 

You thank Hakon and are about to leave when he says, "One more thing, when you are ready to fight the demons, you can count on my strength to aid you. I have unfinished business with them anyway." Hakon smiles and bids you and Kira farewell. 

"This is awesome Mika!" Kira cheers as you make your way back down the mountain. "Hakon said he would help you fight the demons! With someone like him on our side, we can do this for sure!" 

She looks excited but you remind her that he was defeated last time and that it won't be any easier. 

"Yeah I know but that sorceress and the demon too, if all of us fight them, I know we can win!" Kira's optimism reminds you of Gwen and you hope she is alright. 

The sun has set as you near the base of the mountain. You look east and cant see any signs of a swampland so you ask Kira how far it is. Really far is her answer and you decide to go back to Valen City first to stock up on supplies for the journey. Passing the farmlands near town, you notice a girl walking through the fields towards the road you're on. 

She soon comes to the road about where you are and greets you with a big smile," Hi there!" 

"Hello" You reply. 

"Are you here to be milked too?" She asks looking at your breasts rather than your face. 

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." You say confused. 

"The milkers here are the best! Come on, I'll show you!" The girl grabs your hand and starts running towards a nearby barn. 

As you are being lead by the hand, you notice the girl has small horns on her head and she has a tail. From the pattern on her bikini top, you surmise she must be a cow girl. She is slightly chubby, has long jet black hair, and is wearing shorts that barely cover her ass, especially while she is running. 

"I'm Momo by the way, what's your name?" The cow girl says as you come to the entrance. 

"Mika." You say examining the interior of the barn. 

Numerous stalls are set up along the walls and each have restraints in different positions and tubes connected to a machine in the center. 

"What is all this?" You ask as you touch one of the machines.

Kira replies, "It's a milk farm, this is where Valen city gets all its milk from." 

Kira sees the confusion on your face and asks Momo to speak privately and they whisper for a few seconds before returning.

Momo says, "People think it's healthier to drink cow girl milk, either that or they're just big ol' pervs, haha!" She laughs as she leads you and Kira to a stall. "See, a girl goes in, gets milked, and then gets paid. It's really easy and it feels great!" Momo says with a grin. 

She unties her bikini top and lets it fall to the floor. Momo walks over, picks up the tubes and reaches into a nearby cabinet where she pulls out two plastic cups and attaches them to the tubes, then fixes them to her nipples. She flicks on the machine and it roars to life. You can see Momo's nipples growing under the suction and milk starts dribbling out. Your cock starts to stiffen and you can't help feeling aroused. You shift your stance and Kira notices the bulge growing in your pants. 

"You know, they have stalls for cow boys too." Kira has a devilish smile on her face, meanwhile, Momo is really getting off on being milked. She is making more and more sounds like she is having sex rather than being milked. 

Kira nudges you and says, "It's too bad they don't have one my size, looks fun, doesn't it Mika?" 

You can tell they are trying to entice you, but you have to admit, you are curious. No one is around right? What's the harm if you can get paid too? You decide to try it and step into a stall. You don't know what to do but Kira seems to be familiar with it and hooks up what looks like a hollow dildo onto a tube and slides it over your cock. She turns on the machine and the inside of the dildo starts filling up with some kind of gel. it puts just enough pressure around your cock to feel like a tight pussy. Kira hits another switch and the dildo begins slowly working its way up and down your cock on its own. 

You relax and say, "This feels incredible, I didn't know this is what it feels like to have a dick."   
With all that's happened to you, it doesn't bother you anymore when you hear yourself saying things you would have been embarrassed about before. After all, you're naked in front of two girls with your new body and yet they don't care. Maybe it's time to just accept that this is how you are now and stop being ashamed of it. It's not like you asked for it, but if it has to be this way, maybe you should just enjoy being you. 

You fail to notice Kira leading your hands behind your back where she puts them into cuffs attached to a bar behind you. You limply struggle but aren't really trying to get away. Momo comes over and props your legs up one at a time and binds them together, thigh to shin. She attaches them to a long bar that rests between your legs and keeps them spread very wide. The long bar hangs from hooks attached to the ceiling, keeping your ass hanging in the air. You cannot move and the two girls give you a smile before pressing another button on the machine. Another dildo attached to a robotic arm comes out of the machine, but this one has little holes all over it. It makes its way to your exposed pussy and then you notice there are actually two dildos. 

They both excrete a bit of the same gel and begin probing your pussy and ass. You are trapped so you just relax and let the machine do what it wants. The dildos make their way inside you and begin excreting more gel, until it feels like two fat cocks are inside you. The pump on your cock increases in intensity as you notice Kira turning a dial on the machine. This triple assault has your mind spinning. The familiar feeling of your pussy and ass mixed with the still new sensations of your cock are driving you crazy. 

"Ohh, I think she likes it!" Momo laughs as you moan in pleasure. 

"Yeah, she's had a hard day, she needs to blow off some steam." Kira says convincingly. 

"Well maybe we should let her enjoy it then, do you want some chocolate milk? It's my favorite! I have some in my bag if you want some." Momo says enthusiastically. 

"Sure, I bet you have the good kind too, huh?" Kira says slyly nudging Momo. 

"Well yeah, of course! Haha!" Momo says and the two of them leave you tied up. 

You can't hold it any longer and you have an intense orgasm. The stimulation from all three sources is incredible and takes you higher than you've ever been, but after the glorious feeling has ended, the machine shows no sign of slowing down or stopping. Extra sensitive after your orgasm, this now feels like a punishment as the machine continues its relentless pounding of your pussy, ass, and cock. After your third climax, Momo and Kira return and see that you look completely drained. 

"I think we should get her down now, wouldn't want to rub anything raw." Momo says turning off the machine. 

Both robotic arms stop and slowly retract out of you and back into the machine. Momo lowers you down, removes the sleeve around your cock, and releases your bindings. Taking a few breaths, you look up and see Kira and Momo smiling ear to ear. 

"Well, how was it?" Kira asks playfully. 

"You were right, you're lucky they don't have one your size." You say half joking. 

"Oh don't be mad, you feel better right?" Kira buzzes up to you. 

"I feel like I need to sleep for a whole day." You respond. 

Kira and Momo burst out laughing but you are to weary to join in. You sit down on a nearby bench and take a few deep breaths. 

"Here, drink this, you must be thirsty." Kira says handing you a glass.

You take the glass and look at its contents. It's definitely milk, and most likely Momo's judging by the mischievous looks on her's and Kira's faces. At this point you don't care, Momo was right you are very thirsty and you drink the girl's breast milk like a normal beverage. Surprisingly, it tastes better than any regular milk you've had. 

"That's my milk by the way! It's good huh?" Momo says giggling along with Kira. 

"I figured, and yeah it actually does taste pretty good." You respond 

"Aww, what gave it away?" Kira buzzes around disappointed. 

"You, mostly." You say with a weary smile and take another drink. 

Kira looks annoyed and says, "Well you can have fun walking back to Valen City after all that." 

"Actually, I need to stop there to pick up a few things, I could give you a ride." Momo offers. 

"I thought we saw you walking from the field?" Kira asks. 

"I was out there picking a few apples, see?" She opens her bag revealing quite a few apples and even more bottles of chocolate milk. "I like apples, and chocolate milk..." Momo says ashamedly. 

You would laugh but you are just too tired. The three of you go out front and climb into the wagon. The trip back to Valen City is quick and peaceful, and you finally make it to the inn. 

The innkeeper, who recognizes you by now says, "My word, you look awful my dear. Go get some sleep and we'll take care of the bill in the morning." 

You groggily thank the man and proceed to your room. You collapse on the bed and fall asleep.


	13. Suit Up

You awaken the next day some time in the afternoon. Still slightly irritated with Kira, you decide to get a little payback when the time seems right. Just, not now, you still feel tired but you know you've delayed long enough and wake Kira. You head to the front desk and thank the innkeeper again for his kindness last night and pay your bill. 

"It's not a problem, but perhaps you should be a bit more cautious." The man says with a slight smile. 

You wonder if he knows what happened last night, but it doesn't matter. Who cares what he thinks, you have more important things on your mind. On the short walk to the market, you ask Kira what kind of creatures you might encounter. 

"Well the swamps are home to the lizards. They are really sneaky and they're pretty tough too. Some of them even have the ability to spit poison!" She says exaggerating with her hands. "There's also slime girls and alraunes there too." 

Slime girl's, like the one from the lake? At least your familiar with that one. 

"What's an... alarune?" You ask.

Kira laughs and says, "Alraune. They're plant girls. They usually have green skin and can control any plants that are around them. You gotta be careful though, because they also spread pollen that's just like a lust draft. You remember right, that bottle that hit you when you first arrived?" 

How could you forget. 

"Ok, anything else?" You ask changing the subject. 

"I've never been to the swamps before. Vivienne is the one who told me about the monsters there, but that's all she mentioned, so that's probably all there is." Kira says putting her tiny hand to her chin.

"Hmm... so something to counter poison, but what can we do to protect ourselves from the pollen?" You ask Kira. 

She hovers for a moment, hand on her chin before saying, "I'm not sure, maybe hold your breath?" 

Sage advice once again from Kira. 

You sigh and ask, "Alright, how about Ardent City? What can we expect to find there?" 

Her expression is no longer cheerful as she says, "It used to be a beautiful city as big as Valen City is. The people there were mostly skilled machinists, and the whole city was like one giant machine. They say it used to light up the land around it like a beacon for people lost in the deserts that surround it. But then... after The Guardians invaded the island, the demons sent some of their soldiers to Ardent City as retaliation. Everyone, even the children, were slaughtered in a single night. The demons destroyed the city and left it in ruins. I heard that some people still live there, but I also heard they get attacked by demons pretty often." 

You might have to fight demons sooner than expected. You don't know what to purchase so you ask Kira for advice. 

"First things first, I don't think that armor is gonna hold up all the way to Ardent City. You should probably get some better gear over there." Kira points to a shop on the far side of the market. It has a sign in the shape of a suit of armor out front. "And right next door you can get weapons!" Kira says, already gliding over to the shop. 

You follow and enter the building. Numerous helmets, chest pieces, boots, and shields and on display, and you see a burly cat man behind the counter. 

"Welcome, what might you be looking for today?" The man says cheerfully.

You walk up to the counter and say, "I'm planning on going to the swamplands, and from there, to Ardent City. I need some equipment." 

"If you're going there, you'll need some serious protection, little lady." The cat man says as he walks through a curtain to the back. 

He returns a moment later wheeling out an incredible looking suit of armor on a display rack. The entire suit is made of a white metal and looks a lot more protective than you thought female armor would in this place. 

The boots are thigh high and the only part of it that is really exposed is the upper thighs and crotch area. Of course you think to yourself, but the shopkeeper explains there is a special puncture resistant fabric worn under the suit that would cover that area and make it easier to move in than if it were covered in metal. You look at the armor again and wonder if he's telling the truth and decide to ask how much it will cost before you go any further. 

"Well this here is somewhat special, you see, it's made out of a rare type of metal that is very conductive with magical energy. Alas, Valen City lacks a mage skilled enough to enchant this beautiful suit of armor. I don't feel right selling it at full price without a proper enchantment, so how about ten thousand arens?" The man says seriously. 

Damn, that's almost everything you have! No doubt that armor would come in handy, so you decide to purchase it and get changed. Walking out from the back, you feel heavier and a bit awkward, but you can get used to it. Thankfully, it seems he was telling the truth, and the special fabric makes it easier to move in and isn't see through or anything. You thank the man and walk outside. Looking into your coin pouch, you have a measly three hundred fifty arens left over, and you really hope to have enough for a decent weapon. 

Next door, a centaur girl is behind the counter of the weapon shop and she greets you with an enthusiastic, "Welcome! I'm Lenore, please take a look around." 

As you approach, you recognize her as the same centaur from the bar that night with Vivienne. 

Remembering Vivienne's advice, you get to the point, "I'd like to see what you have in stock." You say with a smile. 

The girl smiles back and trots around the counter to one of the racks on the wall. "Well, do you know what kind of weapon you want?" She asks tilting her head slightly. 

"Uhh... a sword, I guess." You reply hardly confident. 

The centaur girl nods and reaches for a medium sized blade hanging on the wall. "This one is quite popular for adventurers, it's not that heavy, but still packs a good punch." 

You look it over and think it looks a bit too cheap. You will be fighting demons after all. 

"I think I'm going to need something a bit better." You say and the girl replaces the sword on the wall. 

She grabs another out of a nearby container and presents it to you. "This one is quite fearsome indeed. Very sturdy, though it's on the heavy side." 

This thing looks like a monstrosity. The guard is covered in oddly shaped spikes, pointed where your hand would be, and the blade itself is at a strange angle. It faintly glows with an ominous orange light and your surprised that she hasn't said there is an evil, half dead, warlock living in it or something. 

You decline once again and then spot something familiar. 

"How about that one?" You say pointing to what looks like a samurai sword on a nearby display rack. 

"Sure." Lenore says and picks it up, drawing it slowly and then giving it to you. 

Sure enough it is a katana. You give it a few test swings and it feels very natural. 

"How much is this one?" You ask hoping for the best.

The centaur girl smiles and says, "Six thousand five hundred arens." 

Shit. That's way more than you have and you quickly think of what to say, "Miss, my friend was kidnapped by demons and I am going to get her back. I don't have much money but, if there's any way..." 

The girl cuts you off and says, "Can you fight?" 

You nod and she hands you the sheathe. 

"Ok tell you what, the miners outside of town have been complaining about a monster in the mine and I haven't been able to get enough metal to fill my orders. You go there, kill the monster, and I'll let you keep the sword, how's that?" Lenore says with an eyebrow raised.

"Sure, sounds easy enough." You say confidently. 

"Don't let your guard down in there, otherwise the miners will be bringing my sword back instead of more metal, and that would make me sad." While looking you over with a sly smile as you exit she says, "Be sure to come back real soon." 

Since you basically got the sword for free, you go to a stall selling curatives and buy a few vials of antivenom before setting out. 

"All set?" Kira asks. 

"Yeah. Let's get going." You say and begin walking towards the city gates. 

You follow the directions the shopkeeper gave you and arrive at the entrance to a mine not far from town. You and Kira proceed inside and hear a rusting sound coming from deeper in, followed by a scream and a horrid crunching noise. You race around the corner to find a man's body lying on the ground. His torso looks like it was crushed, but there is nothing in the area that could have done it. 

You carefully proceed deeper into the mine, with Kira clinging your shoulder. It's difficult to see with your new helmet but you don't dare take it off. As you enter the next passage, you briefly notice a fat red tail scurrying around the corner. You give chase and as you round the corner you stop. At the end of the room, a giant snake is coiling itself and you see there is a girl attached to the serpentine body. 

The snakegirl hisses and quickly charges you. You dodge to the right and quickly draw your sword. She charges you again but is almost struck by an arrow. It glances off the snake like body as the girl viciously flicks her tail sending Kira, who is full sized at the moment, flying into a wall. Her transformation is cut short and she falls to the floor. 

'Damn! She should have stayed out of this!' You think as you dodge another attack from the snakegirl. You try to attack, but her movements are irregular and disorienting. 

She hits you with her tail and knocks you against the wall. It didn't hurt that much thanks to the armor, but it takes you a moment to regain your footing. The snakegirl's tail coils around your legs and she begins wrapping her body around you and squeezing. Your armor creaks under the tremendous pressure and it is very hard to breathe. 

The snakegirl gets close to your face and says, "Why can't I just be left alone? I only kill the people who try to hurt me. I haven't done anything wrong!" 

She hisses and increases the pressure. You start to feel light headed and then close your eyes, as you hear the metal plates of your armor struggling to retain their shape under the immense pressure. You need to focus, if you can control Mara's blessing, maybe you can escape. The pressure is becoming unbearable and you cough up a small amount of blood. 

Suddenly your feel a subtle breeze blowing though the cave. You become aware of small creatures all over the cave, even ones that aren't in the same room. Your vision improves and the room becomes a bit clearer. You feel the energy swirling inside you and try to break free. It is difficult, but you slowly begin working your arm up through the coils. The snakegirl is visibly struggling against you and leans in with her mouth open and fangs exposed. 

With no where to go, her fangs find your neck easily and you feel a warm liquid being pumped into your bloodstream. Panicking, you manage to free your hand and try to grab the snakegirl. Your fingers pass over something that feels like an opening. Was she wounded already or perhaps Kira's arrow hit after all? Maybe you can use this to your advantage. 

You shove your fingers into the opening and push the rest of your hand in as well. You thrash around inside her, trying to grab her internal organs or anything to get her off of you. Oddly enough the snakegirl moans and doesn't quite look threatening anymore, her face quickly growing redder by the second. Not understanding, you continue your assault, but can't seem to grab a hold of anything inside her. She loosens her grip on you and as she uncoils her body you see your hand is wrist deep in her vagina. 

You immediately withdraw your hand and look at the girl who now has a furious look on her face. You slowly back away and drink one of the antivenom vials as the snakegirl hisses. 

"You bitch!" She yells as she lunges and tackles you to the floor. 

Grabbing your helmet, she slams your head onto the ground a few times before hissing, "I'll show you!"

Your head is pounding and you feel your lower armor being dragged off of you. The snakegirl puts her fingers in your pussy and says, "So you're packing a little something extra, huh? I guess that's why you went straight for it, you pervert!" She inserts the rest of her hand inside you and begins fucking you with her fist. "How do you like it?" Her rough, scaly hands aren't very pleasurable and you try to get up, but the girl pins you under the weight of her serpentine body. "You got me going, so now you have to finish what you started!" 

The girl hisses as she lifts her body so her pussy is just above your erect cock. She slams her self down on your rod and her pussy seems to latch onto your dick. Her inner muscles begin pumping your cock with out her moving. The snakegirl places her hands on your breasts and squeezes her pussy tightly around your cock. Her claws dig into your tender breasts and you moan in pleasure. Unable to control yourself, you begin thrusting into the girl and grab her breasts. The snakegirl throws her head back and moans deeply while flicking her tongue. Over and over you pound the snake girl's pussy and she seems to be loving it, no longer concerned with the battle. 

She lowers her face to yours and you see her fangs retracting. She leans in and uses her forked tongue to lick the side of your face before shoving it into your mouth. Her tongue is very long and fills up most of your mouth as she expertly swirls it around. Her pussy muscles spasm and you can feel her cum dripping out around your cock, but she doesn't break the passionate kiss until you unload inside of her. 

"Oh, that feels so nice and warm. Fill me up so I can have lots of little babies!" The snakegirl moans.

You are sure impregnating this girl is a bad idea but it's too late. You've already emptied your reserve into her. 

The snakegirl lays down next to you and says, "Are you going to tell me why you came here, or are you ready for round two?" 

You quickly explain that this is a mine that is crucial for Valen City, and how you were ordered to clear out the monsters. 

"Well I was driven out of my home by demons so it's not like I have somewhere else I can go." The girl says looking saddened. 

"What about Valen City?" You suggest. 

"I can't go there, the people would be scared and try to hurt me." She says hesitantly.

You tell her that all kinds of people live there and that you're sure they would accept her. The snake girl seems hesitant until Kira joins in. 

"Yeah I think you'd like it there, it sure beats living in a cave." She says wearily. 

"Kira, are you alright?" You ask concerned. 

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, but would you mind carrying me back?" Kira says with a smile.

You laugh softly and turn back to the snakegirl, "Come on, you can't stay here and I'm sure they will let you into the city if your with us. Just, don't kill anyone, ok?" You ask.

"I don't want to hurt people but what am I supposed to do if I'm being attacked? I only defend myself, that's all." She says meekly. 

"I'm Mika and that is Kira, what's your name?" You ask the snakegirl. 

"Lilith." She replies as you put your armor back on. 

Making your way back to the city, you are drawing a lot of attention walking around with a snakegirl in tow. You approach the guard station and ask for entry. 

"Is that a naga? I've heard about them! They have really long tongues don't they?" The guard says while eyeing Lilith.

You can see the bulge growing in the man's pants and lean in to say, "Sure go ahead, but watch out, when she gets excited she tends to..." 

You make a biting gesture and the man looks flustered and waves you through. 

"You may enter. Be on your way." He says not looking at either of you.

Well, that was easy. Upon entering the city, Lilith's eyes light up. 

"Wow, I've never been inside a city before. It's so pretty!" Lilith says happily.

If it weren't for the giant snake body, she's just an average girl. The three of you make your way to the weapon shop and greet the owner. 

"Uh, He-hello, welcome." Lenore says, wary about your new companion. 

"Don't worry, this is Lilith, she was driven from her home by demons and ended up in the mine. She just wants a safe place to live." You explain. 

"Hmm... well if that's true, then welcome to Valen City. I suppose you don't have anywhere to go then?" Lenore asks Lilith. 

She shakes her head and the centaur says, "I am looking for an assistant at the moment, you could stay in the attic above the shop till you save enough for a place of your own, if you'd like." 

Lilith is ecstatic and hugs the centaur girl hard, tears welling up in her eyes as she says, "Thank you so much!" 

At first Lenore thinks she is being attacked but realizes it's only a hug and returns the affection. 

"I suppose you kept your end of the deal so that sword now belongs to you. Be careful out there, and drop by anytime." 

Lenore smiles and begins showing Lilith around the store, while you and Kira say goodbye and make your way back outside. 

"To the swamps!" Kira cheers as you once again head for the gates. 

The journey to the east is mostly uneventful, Kira playfully buzzing around while the two of you make small talk. The sun is already setting by the time you finally see the swampland in the distance. 

"Better make camp here." You say and begin setting up the tent. 

You decide to try to use magic to get the fire going, Hakon did say to practice, right? You raise your hand to the pile of sticks and concentrate. Tiny embers fall from your palm as a ball of fire slowly forms. Remembering last time, you carefully nudge the flame into the center of the pile where it ignites and the fire roars to life. 

"Good job!" Kira says enthusiastically. 

You smile and feel like you're starting to get more confident in your abilities. You and Kira alternate watching the landscape and sleeping to avoid being taken by surprise in the middle of the night.


	14. The Creeping Marsh

Morning seems to come sooner than expected and Kira says, "Can't we just wait a little longer?" 

You look at her and ask, "Would it be ok if you were the one captured by demons and I wanted to sleep in before coming to get you?" 

Kira has a disappointed look on her face as she mumbles, "Alright, alright, I'm up." 

It takes about an hour and a half to make it to the edge of the swamps, and you now look through the murky treeline towards the slight amount of fog that has accumulated around the area. 

"Be careful Mika." Kira says cautiously. 

"Yeah, we're a long way from anyone who could help now. Maybe I should use Mara's blessing?" You concentrate and soon feel your senses heightening. "Alright, I think there's something in that direction." You say pointing towards some nearby trees. 

"Let's not find out what it is ok?" Kira asks. 

"Agreed." You reply as the two of you begin carefully navigating the swamps, taking care to avoid anything that feels threatening. 

After zigzagging around for a while you begin to feel lost and ask Kira to fly up and see which direction you're heading. 

"Yes Ma'am!" She says with a little salute and buzzes up into the sky. 

You soon lose track of her through the fog but she returns a minute later yelling, "Mika! Mika!" 

"I'm right here Kira. What happened?" You reply. 

"I don't know, the fog goes really high up! I thought I could get out of it if I was high enough but I almost got lost, and then... hey Mika, your eyes aren't glowing anymore. How come?" Kira asks. 

Oh shit! When did that happen? You focus as hard as you can but nothing happens. Is there a limit on how much you can use this? That would have been nice to know before you wasted it walking around in circles. It can't be helped now and you will just have to press on without it. 

"I think I used it all up." You say only half sure. 

"What are we gonna do?" Kira asks obviously uncomfortable walking around blindly in a place like this.

"We find a way through the swamp and continue to Cyldell." You reassure her and look at your surroundings. 

Thick moss grows on nearly every tree and the ground is knee deep water in some places. There are strange giant flower bulbs scattered about, although they don't move or react to anything. Sunlight barely shines in from above the trees, mixing with the natural fog and making visibility even worse. As you scan the distance, you briefly notice what looks like a girl laying on the ground behind a large, moss covered tree. You approach carefully, but it seems like she is crawling away behind the tree. 

"Hey are you alright?" You call out, unsure if this is some kind of trick. 

You look around and only see the same scenery around so you head behind the tree to confront the girl. She is sitting at the base of they tree and up close, you can see she is made entirely out of vines and leaves. The vines go limp and the girl they formed heaps onto the ground lifeless. You faintly hear something and turn your head to see a beautiful young girl with green skin emerging from one of the giant flower bulbs. She is crouching down and has some kind of orange powder in her hand. 

As your eyes meet hers, she blows into her hand, releasing the intoxicating powder right towards you. You quickly try to back away, but cough and realize you weren't fast enough. Your skin tingles and just the feeling of your armor against your skin is enough to get you wet. This is bad. You know from experience how hard it is to fight the urges those potions instill in you. Without hesitation, you draw your sword and charge the plant girl, intending to end this before it gets out of hand. As you enter striking distance, vines suddenly coil themselves around your legs and work their way up until you are completely restrained. 

"How naughty." The plantgirl coos. 

"Let her go!" Kira yells as she fires an arrow in her archer form. 

The plantgirl moves and dodges it easily while trapping Kira in a similar fashion. A puff of smoke accompanies Kira reverting to her original size, trying in vain to escape the vines. The plantgirl raises her hand and spreads her fingers toward Kira, making the vines peel back into many thinner vines. They quickly grab the escaping fairy and spread her limbs apart. 

"That's better. Now I can have both of you all to myself." The plantgirl gives a devilish smile and makes her way to Kira as she says, "You're just so full of energy! You wouldn't mind if I took just a bit, right?" 

You struggle hard but the thick vines prove too much and you are immobilized. 

"It's me you want, right? Just leave her alone." You say as the plantgirl looks at both of you. 

She smiles again and brings her hands together in between you and Kira. The vines begin moving and soon you are on your knees while Kira is still stretched out directly above you. 

"Don't worry, I can play with both of you at the same time." The plantgirl says as vines begin snaking their way under your armor. 

You see that the smaller vines have also begun penetrating Kira's pussy and occasionally, some of her juices drip down onto your face. 

"Just let Megumi do all the work." The plantgirl says soothingly as she removes your armor. 

The vines now have unrestricted access and work their way into your pussy and ass. The intrusion, while not wanted, makes your cock spring to attention. 

"See, you can't hide how good this feels. Just let me suck some of your sweet nectar." Megumi says as she increases the pace of the vines for both you and Kira. 

Kira's face is lost in ecstasy as the tiny vines pump in and out of her dripping cunt. She squirms against her captors and then lets out a moan. Kira's pussy begins dripping cum and it splashes on your face as you try to steady your breathing. Megumi grabs a nearby vine and her eyes begin to glow. A small nub appears on the vine that quickly buds into a familiar looking flower. 

"You didn't think I'd forget about you, did you?" She says to your cock as she slowly lowers the pussy flower onto it. 

As if it were hungry, the flower begins producing a small amount of suction and inch by inch your dick disappears into the flower, bulging its stem. The overwhelming pleasure reaches its tipping point and you orgasm hard. Your cock spurts cum and the flower eagerly sucks it all up, not wasting a single drop while your pussy drips cum onto the muddy ground. You wearily notice Megumi placing a vine into Kira's mouth. It seems to be feeding her cum and you trace it down to the flower around your dick. Megumi raises Kira up a bit and takes a good look at her small pussy. Without a word, Megumi commands the tiny vines to spread Kira's pussy and orders another, even thinner vine into her urethra. 

"No! Not there, stop!" Kira's protests fall on deaf ears as Megumi is clearly enjoying this. 

"I wonder if everything about you is sweet and innocent? Why don't we have your friend be the judge?" Megumi says while placing her thumb on Kira's tiny belly and applying pressure. 

The vine flailing around in her bladder is too much for her to handle and it retracts with a wet popping noise as Kira begins to pee all over you. You can't move and have no choice but to let the warm liquid cascade over you. Megumi raises one of her legs and rests her foot on your shoulder. 

"Maybe if you are a good little slave, I might let you go." She says playfully as she spreads her dark green pussy lips. 

Another flow of warm piss hits you as Megumi says, "Drink up now, or I'll have to punish you." 

You really don't want this to get any worse and with her pollen affecting your thoughts, you open your mouth wide to catch as much of her pee as you can. Megumi laughs and shoves her mound against your mouth hard. Her hot pee is pouring down your throat and you struggle to keep pace. 

After a minute, Megumi finishes and lowers her leg then looks at you and says, "Hmm... I still don't think you are taking this seriously, so here's your last chance." 

"Pleasure me." She says, placing her foot on your chest and pushing you onto your back. She holds her small naked foot inches from your face and without thinking, you raise your head and lick the soles of Megumi's feet. 

She smiles and says, "That's right, worship my body." 

You flick your tongue in between each of her toes and then suck her big toe like it was a small cock, before Megumi pulls away. The plantgirl turns around and squats over your face, bringing her ass mere centimeters away from you. 

Megumi grabs your cock tightly and says, "Now for the main course! Don't disappoint me." 

Her position indicates she wants her ass eaten and you look at her shapely cheeks hovering above you. They are light green and smell almost like flowers, while her hole is surrounded by a darker green color. Megumi lowers Kira just above her face and begins licking Kira's overused pussy. She squeals but doesn't have the energy to resist. 

"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" Megumi says sarcastically. 

The pollen has your mind trapped in sex mode, so you stick your tongue out and make contact with Megumi's exposed asshole. It is very warm and to your surprise, doesn't taste like you thought it would. In fact, it tastes almost sweet, so you don't give it another thought and dive in. Your tongue penetrates her flesh and Megumi moans deeply. You thrash your tongue around and slurp up all her juices while Megumi howls in pleasure. The plantgirl focuses on your cock now and begins feverishly stroking it, making the flower that is still attached bulge even more. After a few minutes of her intense jerking, the flower rips and a bit of your cum lands on Megumi's cheek. She doesn't seem to notice though and continues her assault on your cock, rubbing your pussy while she's at it. 

You look for Kira in this confused state and vaguely make out her untangling herself from the vines. Another orgasm crashes over you and your cock jumps from Megumi's hand and spurts a thick rope of cum across her face, as another hits one of her perky nipples and drips onto you. Still licking her ass, you notice it squeeze rhythmically and feel her pussy leaking cum all over your neck. Megumi's ass slowly begins to relax as your tongue keeps licking away. It suddenly becomes very hot and you can see Megumi's dark green hair is on fire. 

"Take that you bitch!" Kira yells as Megumi falls to the side and screams. 

The vines lose their strength and Kira quickly helps you untangle yourself. Finally freed from the vines, though still under the influence of the pollen, you slowly stand up. Megumi has reached a puddle on the ground and throws herself in it, extinguishing the blaze. 

"You ok Mika?" Kira asks eyeing the plantgirl as she returns to her feet. 

"Yeah, I think so." You say groggily. 

You take your blade in one hand and walk over to Megumi, Kira ready with another fireball just in case. 

The plantgirl is burned on one side of her face and is clearly in pain when she says, "Please, don't kill me. I can't help myself." 

You pause and wonder if she's telling you the truth. 

"I need to get to Cyldell. If you lead us out of the swamp, I promise I won't hurt you." You say wearily. Kira begins to protest but you cut her off, "Better her guiding us than stumbling around not knowing which direction to go." Kira looks displeased but she understands. 

"Fine. I'll take you to the edge of the swampland, but she needs to apologize first!" Megumi says pointing at Kira. 

"What did I do!?" Kira exclaims looking at her obviously burnt face and hair. "Fiiiiine." Kira says unconvincingly, "I'm sorry for trying to make you look prettier." 

"Bitch!" Megumi roars. 

In a flash, the tip of your sword rests against Megumi's throat and you give them both a serious look. 

"That's enough! I don't have time for this. Kira, stop antagonizing her. Megumi, start walking or you're going to be in a lot more pain." You yell.

Both of them can see the seriousness in your eyes and cooperate. Megumi leads you for a short while and the fog begins to become less dense. 

"Keep going that way and you will be out of the swamp. You should be able to see Cyldell from there." Megumi says pointing onwards. 

You are hesitant to turn your back on the plantgirl but you really want to get out of this swamp. You thank Megumi and she scoffs and quickly scampers back into the swamps as you and Kira head on. A quick glance back reveals Megumi climbing back into one of the giant flower bulbs. You decide to not find out if she's planning to attack again and rush towards the treeline with Kira in tow. 

Emerging from the trees and fog you can finally see your destination, Cyldell, it's a bigger city than you thought it would be. It is still a ways away, but there is good visibility and plenty of open space, unlike the confines of the swamplands. 

"There it is! Cyldell!" Kira cheers and happily buzzes away from the eerie swamps. There isn't more than a few hours of daylight left, but you're pretty sure you can make it to Cyldell before nightfall so you and Kira head off towards the city. 

"Do you know anything about Cyldell?" You ask Kira as you make your way down the path leading to the city. 

"It's a gathering place for mages, at least, it used to be. The city was infused with magic and the whole thing lights up! There's not too many mages left in the city though, most of them died trying to help The Guardians when they invaded the demon's island." You curse the demons silently, thinking of Gwen again, as Kira continues, "They were trying to find a way to repel the corruption last I heard, I guess this Priscilla finally managed to do it." 

You nod and add, "Let's just hope she's willing to help us." 

The massive stone gate leading into the city now stands before you as the sun sets behind Cyldell. Reminding you of home, lights begin to flicker on and the city bathes it's surroundings with faint magical light. You try to push the gate open but Kira laughs as you struggle. 

"This is the city of magic." She says as her eyes begin to glow. 

She places her tiny hands on the massive gate and it slowly opens on it's own. Kira winks at you, then flies inside as you follow.


	15. City Of Magic

You look around in amazement and doubt you could have come at a better time. The sky is just beginning to darken as the lights around the city get brighter, perfectly illuminating every street. You notice now that there are no lights, rather, the buildings themselves almost glow, giving off the pale light that shines on the city. 

For the most part it looks like a normal city, buildings and shops line the streets, and what looks like a castle can be seen towards the back. However, there are also some buildings that are floating, and nearby the entrance is a fountain that looks like it's upside down, but the glowing light blue liquid flowing from it is cascading back up, defying gravity. You would really like to explore the town, but you came here for a different reason. 

"Ok Kira, any ideas where we should start looking?" You say optimistically. 

Kira looks at you and shrugs. You end up wandering around for a while as the shops begin to close for the day. 

"Should we get a room and try again in the morning?" Kira asks. 

It doesn't seem like your going to get any more information tonight, most of the shops are closed now after all, but what about a bar? Surely they would still be open and hopefully full of people. 

"Why don't we get a drink first?" You reply and begin searching for a tavern. 

It doesn't take long as cheers and laughter can be heard coming from a building on a nearby street. You and Kira walk in to find a surprising scene. A lizardwoman is nude, standing on the bar apparently giving a drunken speech. 

The crowd seems to be enjoying it though and they let her continue, "If all you do ish worry about the little thingsh, you go crazy! So I don't care if all you guysh shee me naked, I can still kick all your asshes!" 

The crowd roars with laughter and someone yells, "You can kick me anytime!" 

You smile at the odd creature on display. She has scaly brown skin and small horns on top of her head Her tail isn't that long but it has girth, and her eyes are a gorgeous shade of purple and a bit glossy. They are also staring at you. 

"Like her!" The woman hops off the bar, almost falling, pointing towards you. She walks over and continues her speech with her arm around your shoulders, her breasts heaving with every exaggerated movement, "I've never seen thissh girl before in my life, but I'm not embarrassed! I could still take her!" 

You are uncomfortable as the woman sways and drags you along through the bar. 

She looks back at you and asks, "Isn't that right?" 

"I don't know what you're..." You begin.

Apparently, all the woman heard was 'no' and she suddenly gets very angry. 

"What? You think you can take me?" The lizardgirl says putting her hands on her hips.

As you try to deescalate the situation, someone in the crowd yells, "Twenty arens on the new girl!" 

The crowd erupts with people placing bets for and against you, and before you know it the woman assumes a fighting stance. You can smell the alcohol on her breath from here and you know logic won't work anymore. You raise your fists preparing to fight the lizardwoman. 

She takes two steps forward then whips around hard, hitting you in the ribs with her tail. You slam into a table and some chairs and are quickly helped back up by the crowd. You narrowly escape her next attack and are moving backwards when she violently kicks a chair at you. It glances off your shoulder, throwing you off balance for a moment, and as you regain your footing, you see the woman charging in. You don't have time to move away, so you swing your right arm as hard as you can. 

Your fist lands squarely on her snout just before she reaches you, and although it felt like punching concrete, the woman backs off, also in pain. You inspect your hand and think you might have broken something but your mind returns to the fight. The woman is quick and you see a faint purple glow around the fingers in her left hand. You blink and suddenly don't see the woman anymore, just the crowd that had formed a circle around the two of you. They are all staring at you, and then you feel the woman jump on your back, locking your head between her arms. 

You slowly stand up straight with the lizardgirl clamped around your neck. You can't breathe and know you have to do something fast. You lean forward slightly then thrust backwards as hard as you can. The lizardgirl doesn't let go even as her head hits the floor and you come to rest on top of her. She locks her legs around you and soon your world starts to fade. The noisy tavern has gone silent but you see their faces, still yelling and cheering. You black out hoping you don't end up in a sex dungeon or something. 

"Hey you're awake! That's good, I thought I might have overdone it." You open your eyes to see the lizardgirl from the bar, although now she is wearing clothes and looks very apologetic as she says, "Your friend told me about how you two had just come from the swamps, I shouldn't have made you fight like that, I'm sorry." 

You sit up and the woman introduces herself as Priscilla. "I enjoy drinking, but sometimes I get carried away. Men tend to think they are more suited for fighting and it just infuriates me. With the alcohol, I just... I'm sorry again." 

"It's alright, where is Kira by the way?" You ask. 

"I think she is still sleeping." Priscilla responds. 

Sounds like Kira alright. You are having a hard time believing that this woman is the one Hakon spoke of, but then again, you did see her using magic while she was attacking you. Priscilla hands you a teacup and you take a drink. It tastes pretty good, almost like green tea back home, but a little different. 

"Slowly now, you've been asleep for half a day, take it easy." Priscilla says calmly.

'What? Half a day has passed?' You think to yourself.

You quickly scoot to the edge of the bed and Priscilla says, "Hold on, I have some questions for you." 

You look at her confused, she knocks you out and now she wants to question you? 

"Your fairy friend said Hakon sent you two, but I'm having a hard time believing that. You don't exactly seem like the kind of people Hakon associates with." Priscilla says.

You are annoyed with her implications and say, "Yeah well he mentioned you specifically, but you don't seem like someone he'd associate with either." 

Priscilla lets out a hearty laugh as she says, "How true! I've never really seen eye to eye with that pious old fool." 

You are further confused and Priscilla continues, "I've always been a bit more practical than old Hakon. He really hated it when my ideas were better than his! So tell me then, how did you get the old man to trust you?" 

You explain about the voice and how it granted you power. 

"Let me guess, Hakon didn't believe it?" Priscilla asks. 

"No, he threw a spear into my chest and only after I got back up did he take me seriously." You say reliving that harsh moment. 

"Typical Hakon. I want to see this power of yours for myself, but unlike him, I don't need to injure you. Come with me please." Priscilla says leading you from the bedroom out into a hallway. 

You assume this is her place as she leads you downstairs and into the basement. 

"This is a machine I've been working on." Priscilla says as she turns on a computer hooked up to an odd looking machine. 

It looks like a hollowed out cylinder and Priscilla asks you to step inside. 

"This machine scans a person and shows the layout of their magical circuits." Seeing the confusion on your face Priscilla explains, "Magical circuits are almost like nerves except instead of bio electricity, only magical energy flows through them. Everyone's layout is slightly different, some have an affinity towards a particular element, others might be limited in the kinds of spells they can actually cast even with constant training. I, for instance, have a much easier time casting illusions, although it is a bit difficult for me to work with elements like fire or ice." 

You thought the elemental and transformation magic were the only kinds of magic but it seems like you still have a lot to learn. 

"What do you mean by illusions?" You ask curiously. 

"Well, think back to our fight. Was there a time when you lost sight of me in such a confined space?" Priscilla asks.

"Yeah, right after I hit you, you disappeared and then you were behind me before I knew it." You reply, connecting the dots. 

"I used a simple spell not to become invisible, but to trick your eyes into believing so. Magic isn't about structure, each situation is different and you must adjust accordingly, and every spell has a downside but depending on how you use it, it can be more useful than brute strength." Priscilla explains.

As you ponder how to best use this new information in your upcoming battles, you realize you still don't know if Priscilla has agreed to help you or not. You hope this machine of hers will tell her you are who you say you are as it begins to light up and gently hum. 

"Ok just stand still, this won't hurt a bit." Priscilla says, typing away on her keyboard. "Alright it's coming through now, just let me... huh? Whats this?" 

"Everything alright?" You ask nervously. 

"Yes, yes just a glitch, let me get another reading." After a few moments Priscilla says, "I- I don't understand, I've never seen anything like this." 

You repeat your question and Priscilla waves you over. 

She points to the screen and explains, "Everyone's circuits are set up differently, but yours... I don't know where to begin. It looks like you have several layers of circuits interlacing with each other. If I may, could you show me how you cast a spell?" 

Not knowing if this is good news or bad news, you hesitantly raise your right hand with your palm facing upwards. Concentrating on your palm, you see frost begin to fall from around your fingers. A crystalline sphere of ice forms in your palm and you look to Priscilla. 

"Impressive, it looks as neat as that old man's." Priscilla remarks.

You explain this is the first time you've tried using ice and Priscilla says, "And already you're this good, hmm.. can you change its form as well?" 

You answer no and she tells you to give it a try, so you close your eyes and try to imagine the sphere turning into something else. You are tempted to try a spear like Hakon, but it would be quite large and you don't really know what your doing, so you settle on a small knife. This is much harder than you thought it would be and nothing seems to be happening. 

You begin to smell fresh food and can faintly hear children playing as the room gets a little brighter. You must have awakened Mara's blessing again. The surge of magical energy gets the sphere to change shape, although it just twists in on itself and crooks at an odd angle. Just before you can to look to Priscilla, the icy shape arcs with black electricity before turning to ash and falling to the floor. 

"It's a lot harder than it looks." You admit.

"Indeed it is, but for you to be able to change it at all without any training is remarkable. You really must be Mara's champion." She says looking you over thoroughly. 

"I guess so." You reply. "About my, circuits..." 

"Ahh of course, anyway, the way your circuits are set up, it looks like you should be able to use almost any type of magic. What's more, with all of these interwoven so tightly, you should be able to concentrate a vast quantity of magical energy into even the most mundane spells." Priscilla says, not seeing that she is slowly losing you. 

"She means even if you're just trying to use a simple spell, it'll be really strong because you can put a lot of energy into it!" Kira says casually flying into the room. 

"Yes, exactly Kira! I am truly intrigued by you Mika." Priscilla says with a smile. 

You thank her and say, "I'm not sure if Kira told you why we're doing all of this." 

"Yes, she mentioned your friend was kidnapped by demons and you are trying to get her back." She replies. 

"Yes, but alone, I'm no match for them. Hakon has agreed to fight by my side, but if I'm going all the way to the demon's island, I might as well try to put a stop to the corruption while I'm at it." You say confidently. 

Priscilla has a serious look on her face and says, "I want to fix this world too, it could be such a beautiful place again, but there are certain realities you must face. Most people abducted by the demons are never seen again and those that do return, they're mindless sex slaves with no free will remaining. Also, anytime we've banded together to fight the demons, they've won. The chains of fate aren't something that can be broken easily." 

You begin to lower your head when Priscilla adds, "So it's a good thing you got someone like me who doesn't take no for an answer." She smiles. 

"So, you'll help us?" Kira asks excitedly.

Priscilla says, "Yes, I'm curious to see how much Mika, no, Mara's champion can accomplish. I want to get the demons back for making the world like this too, so I'm in." 

"Yay!" Kira cheers and you also smile in relief. 

"You said your next destination is Ardent City, correct?" Priscilla asks. 

"Yeah. There are rumors of a demon there that might help us fight." You reply. 

"Typical Hakon. The enemy of my enemy blah blah blah. Let's hope his information is accurate, he hasn't left that mountain in over sixty years, you know." 

The life spans of these creatures still amazes you, A lifetime for a human is trivial compared to them. 

"I can book us passage on an airship, but it won't arrive until tomorrow. In the meantime, why don't we grab a bite to eat? You must be hungry." Priscilla offers.

As if answering her question, your stomach grumbles and you agree. Priscilla leads you and Kira to a small cafe nearby and treats you to a meal. 

A cute puppy girl waitress with long pink hair and beautiful purple eyes brings your food out and says, "If you need anything else, just ask, my name's Selene!" 

She happily trots off, her tail wagging behind her. 

"She's always been a lively one." Priscilla remarks. 

You let out a small laugh and then dig in to the delicious looking food. 

Kira joins you as Priscilla slowly sips on wine and says, "So after Ardent City, then what?" 

You were just following Hakon's advice and don't really have a plan for once you've assembled your team. 

"I'm not sure, do you think with only five of us we even stand a chance?" You ask. 

Priscilla thinks for a moment before saying, "It's hard to say. There were a lot more of us back then, but we didn't have Mara's champion by our side." 

More and more, this 'champion' is becoming something that you must live up to, not only for Gwen's sake, but also to help the people of this world. If you have power, then you should use it to help people, right? Somehow your goal has shifted focus, rescuing Gwen will put you right in the middle of demon territory, so it would be a waste if you simply left without at least trying to stop them. Helping Gwen will help everyone else reclaim their world from the corruption. This all seems like a bad b movie plot from back home but you're going to have to live through it. 

You look up at Priscilla with a fiery determination in your eyes and say, "I'll do whatever it takes to stop the demons and save my friend. I'll kill every last one myself if that's how it has to be." 

Priscilla raises her glass and says, "Well I'll drink to that!" She takes a long drink and sets her glass down before saying, "I doubt things will go smoothly when we're up against the demons, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For tonight, let's just relax and enjoy ourselves." 

"Yeah!" Kira cheers in between mouthfuls. 

You agree and decide to take it easy. A few glasses of wine later, Priscilla leads you and Kira back to her home. The night air is chilly but the stone fireplace keeps Priscilla's home nice and warm. 

"Alright girls, the airship leaves early in the morning, so get some sleep." Priscilla says before retiring to her bedroom. 

"Hey, Mika? Can I ask you something?" Kira asks giving you a concerned look. 

"Sure, what is it?" You respond. 

"Do you really want me here? I mean, I'm not as strong as Priscilla or Hakon." Kira says ashamed. 

"Kira, if you don't want to go I won't force you. It's going to get really dangerous where I'm headed so if you want to leave, I won't hold it against you, but I know your skills will come in handy and I would be happy if you came with me." You say with a smile.

Kira hugs your arm saying, "Thanks Mika, I'm not sure how much I will be able to help, but I want to stay by your side and see this through. Friends till the end right?" 

You laugh, remembering the drunken Kira from last time and agree, "Right. Friends till the end." 

The conversation goes on for a short while until both of you are fast asleep.


	16. Elysium

"Come on girls, time to wake up." Priscilla's voice ends the peaceful dream you were having and you and Kira climb out of bed. 

Looking around, you notice it is still pretty early and wonder how Priscilla has so much energy after drinking like that last night. 

"Grab your things and let's be off, the port will be a bit crowded if we wait much longer." Priscilla adds before making her way to the front room. 

You and Kira gather your things and follow Priscilla through the bustling streets of Cyldell. If things were different, you would love to take Gwen here and show her all these amazing things. Lost in thought, you blindly follow the rainbow glint of Kira's wings as she buzzes around behind Priscilla and before long, you arrive at a series of platforms on the edge of the city overlooking a sheer cliff side with the ocean waves crashing below. 

"These will take us up to the docks. Our ship should be arriving any minute now." Priscilla says as she steps onto a platform. 

You cautiously follow her and Kira follows right behind. Priscilla slightly raises her hand and her eyes glow for a moment before blue light forms a circle around the platform and it begins to rise. 

"Whoa!" You say instinctively as your face lights up in amazement. 

You slowly reach out and touch your hand against the blue light. Surprisingly, it is like a wall and your palm comes to rest against the surface. 

"It really is something, huh? I've been here for a while now so most of this is normal for me now, but I don't want to forget how amazing it all really is either." Priscilla says as she too touches the barrier of light. 

You nod in agreement and say, "If you ever forget you can just look to me, I don't think I'll ever get used to all of this, it's all so... incredible." 

Kira giggles to herself and you look up and see the elevator has nearly reached the top. When the barrier fades, you see a bustling marketplace and several huge gaps in the floor, and floating in them are what look like huge boats but with multiple engines attached in various places. These must be the airships you think to yourself as you look around and take in the sights. 

Priscilla attracts your attention as she says, "There it is, Elysium, the fastest airship in Thanos." 

You look over and see a ship docking on the far side. The Elysium looks like a high tech pirate ship but with two gigantic engines on either side. It's sails are slanted backwards rather than pointing up like normal, giving it an aerodynamic look. The outside of the ship is adorned with beautiful gold and dark wooden trim that accents the shiny silver machinery that allows this behemoth aircraft to fly. 

"They usually don't take passengers aboard, but I know the captain quite well and she agreed to take us almost all the way to Ardent City." Priscilla brags. 

"Almost? Where will we be dropped off?" You ask hoping it's close. 

"Well no airship can travel too close to Ardent City because of their defenses. The entire city is a machine, and the engineers who built it also included a defense system. It's wildly outdated, but still very powerful. The demons seem to have gotten it working again, although I don't know how. The city was designed to need as little magical energy as possible, so I don't think they could have used their magic. Long story short, we get too close in an airship and we will be shot down. Instead, we will get dropped off just outside their range and travel the rest of the way on foot. It shouldn't take more than a few hours from there to reach Ardent City." Priscilla explains.

You nod and follow Priscilla aboard the small lift up to the Elysium where a woman in a captain's hat greets you. She has dark green skin, not unlike the goblins that captured Gwen, although she is quite a bit taller than you and two of her lower teeth stick out like small fangs pointing upwards. She has long dark blue hair and intense yellow eyes and besides her light grey tank top, the rest of her attire looks professional. 

"Welcome aboard you lascivious lizard!" The woman says as Priscilla walk towards each other and embrace tightly as they share a laugh. 

"I want to introduce my friends, Mika and Kira." Priscilla says gesturing back towards you. 

Kira waves and you say, "It's nice to meet you, um..." 

The woman walks over and grabs your hand and shakes it while saying, "The name's Farah, good to meet you two as well. How about we go inside and talk?" 

You agree and follow the tall green skinned woman into the ship. 

Kira must have noticed you staring because she says in a hushed tone, "She's an orc, they're known for being really strong and hard headed, but they're also known to be a bit soft hearted at times too." 

Farah leads you to a meeting room everyone takes a seat. 

Farah sits down at the end of the table and says, "Alright, let me hear it. Priscilla knows how tight I run my ship so when she asked to hitch a ride, I knew something was going on." 

The three of you explain the situation and as your tale progresses, so too does the look of worry on Farah's face. 

After you finish, Farah sits and thinks for a few minutes before she says,"I think it is very noble of you to risk your life to try to help us, but I wonder if you fully grasp the reality of what you're throwing yourself into. As callous as it sounds, no one could blame you for assuming the worst and protecting your own life." 

You shake your head and say, "I could never live with myself if I just gave up on her like that. Even if I die, as long as I know Gwen is safe, it would be worth it." 

Farah smiles and says, "I see, in that case, feel free to explore the ship. The trip to Ardent City will take three days, and if you need something, just ask Diedra or myself." 

As you wonder who Diedra is, a short green skinned girl appears from behind the captain. "I'm Diedra, your rooms are this way." She says and leads you inside the ship. "These will be your rooms." She says, pointing to two doors. "If I may Mika, I'd like to speak with you, privately." 

You walk into one of the rooms and Diedra closes the door behind her and says, "Alright you little bitch, what kind of bullshit did you get the captain to believe? I've never seen her act that way before, so what makes you so special, huh?" 

You are surprised at the foul language coming from such a small woman. 

"I'm just trying to get to Ardent City, Priscilla said she knew the captain and spoke to her beforehand, is there a problem?" You ask. 

"You're damn right there's a problem! You're the fucking problem. The Captain is strict and she runs this ship at maximum efficiency. We don't need tourists, we have a business to run, so get off this ship!" Diedra's orange colored eyes glare at you with contempt. 

"I need this ship to take me to Ardent City, after that, you and the captain can return to business as usual." You say, trying to explain you have no other choice.

Diedra is about to say something when Farah walks in and says, "There you are Diedra, I need you to help out in the engine room. The crew need some of your goblin muscle." 

"Of course captain, right away!" Diedra salutes and runs off. 

"Let me apologize for anything Diedra might have said. She can be, a bit overprotective of me at times." Farah says with a smile. 

You laugh and say, "It's alright, I'm sort of used to it by now." 

Farah gives you an unconvinced look and says, "Even so, I can't have my crew just doing whatever they please, I'll make sure she is punished accordingly." 

Sounds like Diedra's going to be even angrier with you now. 

"Make yourselves comfortable, I'll check in with you later alright?" Farah smiles and walks off. 

The Elysium starts to rattle and you can see the docks slowly getting further away. You sprawl out on the bed and wonder what Ardent City will be like. A knock at your door gets you out of bed and Priscilla stands between her room and yours. 

"I thought you might like to practice using magic. We might as well not waste this time while we have it." She says.

You can't argue with that logic. 

"Yeah, I need all the practice I can get." You reply. 

The next few hours are filled with powerful magical energy being blasted into the air from the deck of the ship. Priscilla shows you how to conjure illusions, however, they are still a bit too difficult for you to feel comfortable using them in a fight. Instead, you focus on trying to shape the energy into a weapon like Hakon. It is still complicated, but you feel your skills improving with every attempt. You and Priscilla notice it is getting late and decide to stop for tonight. 

"Thanks again Priscilla, I think I've got the hang of it now, I just need more practice." You say as Priscilla enters her room. 

"No problem hon, you're a fast learner." She says with a wink as she closes her door. 

You think about turning in yourself, but remember your argument with Diedra. You should really find her and set things straight. The last thing you need now are more complications. You wander the ship until you arrive at the crew quarters and look around a bit. Most of the bunks are all in the same room, with a few large tables in the center. Further back, you see a door with a plaque beside it. Upon closer inspection, the sign says this is Diedra's room. Perfect, now you can clear things up between you two. You knock and wait for a response, but there is none. 

"Diedra?" you say as you slowly open the door. 

The room is dark, but with the moonlight you can make out her bed. The room is empty and you decide to look elsewhere, wandering below deck and into the cargo bay. It is a massive room filled with crates and shipping containers, but in the corner, you see what looks like a door and beyond it you can see light. You proceed to open the door and are taken by surprise by what you see. 

Captain Farah has tied up Diedra in some kind of bondage gear and is mercilessly flogging her ass. You are about to stop this unnecessary punishment when Diedra yells. 

"Yes mistress, I've been very bad! Please whip me harder! Ooohhhh yes!" Diedra cries out.

She is actually enjoying this? You decide not to interrupt but you can't deny, this is turning you on. Farah ceases her assault and picks up a strap on dildo. 

"What have I told you Diedra? Don't be rude to guests. I'm beginning to think you do it on purpose just so I will punish you." Farah says menacingly.

Farah slaps Diedra's ass with the dildo and her soft globes of flesh jiggle with the impact. 

"No mistress, I would never defy you, I just need some motivation once in a while." Diedra replies as her pussy leaks juices onto the floor. 

"Is that right? Well then why don't we have our guest give you some extra incentive. 

Crap, Farah knows you're here! 

"No need to be shy Mika, she's all tied up and can't do a thing." Farah grins. 

"I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll just be going now..." You try to say.

Farah cuts you off and says, "I'm the captain of this ship and I'm ordering you to fuck this goblin until she gets her shit together, or would you prefer walking to Ardent City?" 

Shit, she's pulling rank on you? 

"No... I need to get there as quickly as possible." You say. 

"Then teach this little whore a lesson!" Farah commands. 

You look at Diedra, who is writhing against the straps she is bound with, trying to get away in vain. Hesitantly, you reach out and touch Diedra's clit, eliciting a moan from the tied up goblin. You feel your cock begin to stiffen and your armor becomes uncomfortable. 

"Let me help you." Farah says as she quickly disrobes you. "I guess you won't need this either then." Farah says, tossing the strap on across the room while staring at your cock. 

It's a bit embarrassing to have someone watching intently as you prepare to penetrate this goblin girl, but you have been through stranger things since you arrived here. You press the tip of your cock against Diedra's dripping wet pussy and rub it up and down her slit until a good amount of her wetness has rubbed off on your cock. A sly grin appears on your face as you slowly slide your dick down until it rests against her puckered green asshole. Lubed up with her pussy juice, you begin pushing your cock into the goblins tiny ass as she moans in pleasure. 

As soon as you are fully inside her, Farah comes up behind you and kneels down. Her hands rub and squeeze your ass and soon you feel Farah's hot breath against your puckered hole. You notice Diedra is suspended from the ceiling and begin to use her like a toy, sliding in and out of her easily. Farah's tongue makes contact and pleasure surges through you making your pussy even wetter. A few of Farah's fingers find their way into your pussy and begin working your g spot. 

Meanwhile, Diedra is drooling in ecstasy as you continue to pound away at her ass. From this position, you can clearly see Diedra's pussy spasming as she reaches yet another orgasm. Her pussy squirts onto your tits and it drips down sloppily. This proves too much and you can't hold back any longer. Your cock floods the tiny goblin's ass with cum and Diedra seems to be loving every minute of it. 

"See? Now you both feel better and we can have a nice voyage." Farah stands up, still nude, and puts on only her captain's hat before she leaves. 

You are about to leave as well when you remember Diedra is still tied up. You help Diedra down and she looks at you cautiously, not having forgotten the argument earlier, but also pleased with your recent performance. 

"Th-thank you mistress." Diedra says meekly before leaving as well. 

You smile at the tough goblin girl as she awkwardly walks to the exit, cum dripping down her stubby legs and onto the floor. You are quite tired now and decide to head back to your room. Upon returning, you find Kira fast asleep and once again hogging the bed. You move her over and close your eyes. Before you know it, it's morning already.


	17. Impact

You awaken to find Kira awake and ready before you for once. 

"What's got you up so early?" You ask coyly. 

"Priscilla said she's gonna train both of us today!" Kira exclaims. 

Maybe this was decided last night when you were with Farah and Diedra. 

"Good, then maybe you will understand that you can still be useful to our group without brute strength." You reply. 

"It sure would be nice to have it though." Kira jokes. 

"Power corrupts people. They can never go back to how things were once they've obtained it. It just, changes people." You were speaking about your world but you realize your words pertain to you as well.

Kira objects, "But you don't seem any different than when we first met Mika." 

"That's not true." You reply, "I have done things here that I would never have even thought about if I was back in my world. I don't know if it's the corruption or this blessing, but I am definitely different than when I first arrived. That night at the lake for instance, I saw a slime girl and had sex with her. Normally, I would want to only be intimate with one person, but here, I don't know how to describe it, it just feels natural to be with anyone I want, whenever I want." 

That sounded a lot better in your head but it's out there now. 

Kira smiles and says, "I saw that too, you know. How you were really giving it to that goo girl, I got so wet I started fingering myself." 

She really is kinky. She probably enjoyed it when Megumi and her peed on you too. You are definitely going to get her back now. Just then, a knock comes from the door as it opens and Priscilla waves.

"Are you two ready to begin?" She asks with a smile.

The three of you make your way out onto the deck and begin training. Priscilla instructs you to continue from yesterday while she shows a few things to Kira. The day seems long and with only blue skies and clouds in view, its hard to tell how much time passes. Eventually, evening comes around and all three of you are spent. You didn't realize how tired you could get from using magic, better to learn now though rather than in combat. Farah's crew have prepared a fine meal for everyone and you can't wait, all that training really worked up your appetite. 

As you feast, Priscilla says, "You've made good progress again today Mika, I'm thrilled to have such an exceptional student, and Kira, even though you're limited as far as the spells you can cast, you've greatly improved your concentration and your spells should be far more effective now, not to mention your transformation." 

"Oh yeah! Mika, I can stay as the archer for longer now, only a few minutes more, but still!" Kira says excitedly. 

"That's great, I'm proud of you." You say. 

"Ughh, what are you my mom?" Kira jokes and the three of you share a good laugh as you finish your meal. 

Later on, you are walking along the deck admiring the stars when you notice Farah standing alone on the bow. She has one arm folded beneath her breasts supporting her other arm which holds an intricate looking pipe. 

You decide to join her and say, "In my world, I'd never bee able to see the stars this clearly, they're beautiful." 

Farah smiles as she looks at you, offering you her pipe and saying, "Yes, they're the reason I became an airship captain. I wanted to study them, but I'm not that great at science, so I settled for just being able to gaze at them from way up here." 

You don't know what's in the pipe, but after taking a drag you deduce it's similar to tobacco and take another long drag. 

Farah looks upward as she says, "The road you're on will most certainly lead to tragedy. I like you Mika, and I'd hate to see you go off and get killed. I know you want to save your friend, but sometimes, resolve just isn't enough." 

You calmly stare out into the dark night sky, handing the pipe back to Farah before saying, "Maybe you're right, but if there's even a slim chance that I can succeed, I'm going to take it." 

Farah sighs and places her hand on your shoulder and says, "You're a good person and your friend is lucky to have you. Be careful out there tomorrow." 

Farah smiles and walks back towards the bridge. You spend a few more moments letting the wind rush through your hair and admiring the stars before turning in for the night. The next morning during breakfast, you are talking with Kira and Priscilla when suddenly an alarm starts ringing and red lights flash along the walls. 

The crew instantly spring into action scrambling to their posts as Farah's voice rings out over an intercom, "We're under attack! Impact in 5, all hands, battle stations!" 

The Elysium is rocked by a violent impact and you lose your balance. Using the walls for support, you and Priscilla make your way to the deck where you see thick black smoke pouring out of the side of the Elysium. 

"We have to do something!" You yell over another smaller explosion. 

Priscilla nods and says, "Kira, see if you can help put out the fire below deck. Mika, try to deflect some of the blasts away from the ship, I will try to raise a barrier around the ship." 

Without words, you rush to the other side of the deck and see another blast coming towards the ship. Purple lightning crackles around your fingers as you charge up and release a huge stream of electricity. There is a massive explosion and the entire ship sways. You turn your head and see Priscilla with her arms outstretched and a light green magical aura surrounding her. Another blast in the distance is heading straight for Priscilla and you rush to her aid. The explosion is much closer this time and it knocks you off your feet. You stand and see a crewman being thrown off the ship by another explosion and you get the sense that you're falling. 

"Engines 1 and 3 have been hit! Were losing power, I have to try to set her down before..." An explosion can be heard followed by static noise over the intercom as Farah's voice cuts out. 

Priscilla starts expanding her barrier, but it only covers about a third of the ship. 

"This is as much as I can do! It won't be enough.." Priscilla's voice trails off as the ship descends below the clouds. 

The landscape below is a vast desert as far as the eye can see. You rack your brain and remember something important. When Hakon first showed you how to use magic, he infused some of his energy into you. What if you could do the same and power up Priscilla's barrier? It would be risky, you could end up turning to ash, but at this point, the ship will crash and you'll die anyways. 

You focus your energy until you feel Mara's blessing awaken, but you don't stop there. You continue to concentrate and soon, you can feel subtle vibrations in the air around you. You notice they are coming from the people on board the Elysium. This must be their natural frequency! You walk up behind Priscilla and place your hands on her shoulders. The vibrations emanating from Priscilla intensify and you begin trying to match her frequency. Suddenly, you can feel the magical energy flowing through Priscilla very clearly and spot another incoming blast. 

You unleash your energy into Priscilla, being very careful to monitor both Priscilla's and your own frequency. Priscilla's barrier changes from light green to a brilliant white and rapidly expands well past the edges of the ship. Explosion after explosion hit the magical barrier but inside, you can no longer feel the impacts. Expending your energy like this is very difficult and just as you wonder how much longer you can keep this up, you notice the desert sand is approaching rapidly. The barrage seems to let up just as the Elysium is about to crash, but you and Priscilla continue to hold the barrier, trying to mitigate damage as much as possible. A few moments later the barrier comes in contact with the sand. 

The ship crashes down hard, and although the barrier dissipates on impact, it was enough to keep the ship mostly in one piece. The force of the impact throws you and Priscilla off the ship and you tumble through the air and hit the sand hard. You smell fire and cough, which sends a shooting pain through your torso. You open your eyes and try to sit up, but and incredible pain hits you immediately. You look down and see that you are half buried in sand and a jagged piece of metal is piercing your stomach. 

You try to concentrate but you feel very weak and notice you are lying in a pool of blood. The blood has clumped together in the sand beneath you as you struggle to your knees. The sky is almost dark and you look down at your wound again. Your blood is slowly swirling down the metal and dripping into the sand as you slowly make your way to a nearby rock and lean against it. You grab the metal bar firmly and begin trying to remove it. The process is excruciating and more than once you almost black out from the pain, but through sheer willpower, you get through it and dislodge the piece of metal from your gut. 

Blood begins flowing freely now and you press your hand against the wound trying to stop the bleeding. You look around and spot the Elysium half buried in the sand and begin to stumble over there. You pass a few dead crewmen before coming to a huge hole in the side of the ship. Small fires still burn here and there but some of the crew survived somehow and are trying to put them out. 

You walk into the ship and hear one of the men yelling, "We found the captain but she's trapped!" 

You absentmindedly stumble around and follow the men to the bridge where they are trying to push some metal debris out of the way. They manage to move it enough to get access to the door but fires still rage inside the bridge. The men scramble trying to get water for the fire, but you walk over to the door and open it. The heat is intense and the flames lash out at you. You shield your face with your other hand and stumble over to Farah. 

"Stupid girl..." Farah coughs up a bit of blood and says, "Forget about me, you have something more important to do right?" 

You ignore her words and slowly bend down and help the woman to her feet. You drape her arm around your neck and just as you make for the door, a small explosion throws fire in all directions, trapping you and Farah in the inferno. You keep walking slowly towards the door and raise your free hand towards the flames. 

You put everything you have left into it, which isn't much in your condition, but frost quickly accumulates in your hand and you release it at the flames by the door. The flames instantly crystallize in a spectacular reddish orange hue and some collapse under their own weight due to their irregular shape. You make it out of the room and hand Farah over to her crew. One of them comes over to you with tears in his eyes and thanks you for saving their captain. You are about to reply when suddenly you collapse into the man and black out.


	18. Reflection

You feel liquid being dripped into your mouth and you groggily open your eyes. Farah is sitting against the railing on the deck of the Elysium holding your head in her lap. She is holding a wet cloth to your face and squeezing it, letting the water drip into your mouth. You try to sit up and are reminded of your injury by an intense pain. 

"Take it easy now, or your wound will open up." Farah says comfortingly. 

"Is everyone alright?" You ask putting your hand to your head. 

"Not everyone made it, but thanks to you and Priscilla, some of us did." Farah says.

It dawns on you that you haven't seen Kira or Priscilla yet and begin looking around. The only people you can see are crewmen bandaging their wounds and trying to clear debris. 

"Where are Priscilla and Kira?" You ask. 

"They're alright, Priscilla seems to have been lightly wounded when she was thrown from the ship. She's resting now and Kira somehow avoided injury altogether. She's watching over Priscilla as we speak." Farah says reassuringly. 

You are relieved that they're alright and sit against the railing next to Farah. 

"So what now?" You ask.

"Before we went down, I sent an emergency signal back to Cyldell. They should have sent rescue by now, but they aren't as fast as the Elysium so we might be here for a few days. Don't worry about us though, when you're ready feel free to head to Ardent City, it should be in that direction." Farah says pointing out into a seemingly endless expanse of sandy dunes. 

"I think I need to rest for a while first." You say looking at your bloodstained armor. 

There is a decent sized hole where the metal punctured your armor and a generous amount of dried blood around it. 

"Me too." Farah jokes as she helps you to your feet. 

Farah guides you to the room Priscilla is in and says, "The other cabin was destroyed so you're gonna have to share the bed, sorry." 

You look up at Farah and say, "It's alright, I don't mind." 

"Mika! I'm so glad you're ok!" Kira says as she enters the room and hugs your face. 

"Yeah, I'm glad you weren't hurt." You reply.

Kira responds, "Sometimes being small has its advantages." 

You smile and lay your head back as Farah turns around and begins ordering her crew to salvage what they can from the ship as she limps out of the room. 

"You were hurt pretty bad Mika, are you sure you're ok?" Kira asks inspecting you from head to toe. 

You examine your wound closer and although you are sure the metal bar completely pierced you, it doesn't feel like the wound goes all the way through you anymore. 

"I think so, I guess this is Mara's blessing at work again." You say, amazed by how quickly you are healing. 

"Everybody thought you were gonna die..." Kira says as tears begin welling up in her tiny eyes. "I knew you would pull through, but still, I hate seeing you like that, all bloody and barely breathing." 

"At least we're all ok now. I'm going to try sleeping for a while. I'm still pretty tired." You say as you close your eyes. 

"Ok feel better. I'm gonna go help Farah and the crew." Kira says as she floats to the doorway. 

Several hours later you awaken to find it's the middle of the night, and you check your wound again. It is still quite deep and on the outside, doesn't appear to have healed much. 

"I guess even Mara's blessing has it's limits." You think aloud as you remember how much energy you used when the ship was under attack. 

"That's right." Priscilla says, scaring the shit out of you. 

You instinctively flinch and you clutch your stomach in pain. 

"Sorry, haha, I woke up a while ago. I checked your wound and I think at this rate, you should be good to go in another two days or so." Priscilla says as she sits up against the headboard. 

"This is taking too long." You say looking defeated. 

"You can't rush things like this, it will only make things worse later. All you can do now is rest so relax." Priscilla says.

You look up at Priscilla who is smiling and say, "I'm not talking about that. I mean Gwen. What if the demons have killed her, or turned her into their slave?" 

Priscilla leans over and hugs you while saying, "You can't think like that, not after coming this far. You said you would see this through to the end and if you falter now, you will surely fail. Steel your heart, if anyone has a chance against the demons, it's you, and you're not alone. For all we know, they might not have done anything to her yet, you just have to keep that flame of hope alive and keep moving forward." 

Her words hit you hard. You know you can't give up, it's just hard when you know someone is suffering and you can't help them, but Priscilla is right. If you show weakness now, you will fail. You know you have to be strong not just for yourself, but for Gwen's sake as well. Memories of you and Gwen getting accepted to the same college and starting your first year there flow into your mind. The emotional toll of everything that has happened and all that you have yet to process hits you all at once and tears begin streaming down your face. 

In between sobs you manage to say, "Thanks, I needed to hear that." 

"Everyone doubts themselves from time to time, but the only thing you can do is stay true to yourself." Priscilla says with a smile. 

This lizardgirl seems completely different than the drunken tough ass that you first met. She has obviously been through a lot and has a wealth of knowledge at her disposal. 

Just then, Kira flies in and says, "Oh you're both awake. I was gonna check on you two, how are you feeling?" 

"I'm feeling fine, I just needed to let my magical energy recharge." Priscilla says confidently. 

"Yeah I feel better than before, but I'm gonna need to let this heal some more before I can leave." You say. 

"That's good, can I get you something Mika?" Kira asks politely. 

You shake your head and Priscilla says, "Perhaps tomorrow after my energy has been fully restored, I could try a simple healing spell, I've never been very good at them, but it couldn't hurt." 

You thank her and then she says, "By the way, I was curious Kira, why are you so attached to Mika? Fae folk tend to keep to themselves from what I hear and yet you seem to enjoy being around others." 

Kira flies over and lands on your thigh where she sits and says, "I'm her friend and I want to help her." Kira crosses her arms and says, "It's not like she reminds me of anyone." 

Priscilla looks at you and smiles before saying, "So who was she? Your mother? Or how about your sister?" 

You chime in, "Well she likes seeing me naked, so maybe it's her lover." 

Kira's face visibly reddens and she gets an embarrassed look on her face as Priscilla adds, "Ooohh, so were you madly in love or is she the one that got away?" 

"It's not like that!" Kira exclaims. "She was... a friend." 

"Was? What happened?" You ask. 

Kira looks sad as she says, "She was killed. It happened back when I first left home. I didn't come down here alone, my friend Yazmine came with me. She was tired of all the rules too and we decided we would leave together. I don't think I could have made it on my own at first, Yazmine and I had a hard time adjusting to the new environment. We made so many mistakes but we were always there for each other and little by little we started getting used to it. One day we were out in the woods and we were feeling a little naughty so we started kissing. We didn't know that someone was watching us and when we were distracted he jumped out and grabbed both of us." 

Kira pauses for a moment before continuing, "He was a big wolf and he was snarling right in our faces. Yaz tried to use magic and he did let go, but... then he swiped his claws at Yaz and she slammed into a tree. She fell down and just... laid there, blinking for a second before she stopped moving. Then the wolf grabbed her and... he ate her!"

Tears well up in the fairy's eyes and she says, "I didn't know what to do so I ran. Then after I finally thought I had come to terms with it, I thought I saw Yaz again, being attacked by goblins. I didn't even think about it, I was just protecting my friend. Mika looks so much like her, just a lot bigger. I've always hated myself for just running away like that so when I heard Mika saying she was going to fight the demons, I don't know I guess I just felt like I had to repay Yaz somehow for saving me that day." Kira says as she wipes her tears. 

You are stunned. You had no idea this cute little fairy was carrying such a heavy burden all this time.

"I had no idea, I'm so sorry for bringing up bad memories." Priscilla says. 

Kira shakes her head and says, "It's alright, I don't want to forget her, so even if there is pain attached to her memories, there's also joy and I feel happy." 

"You're quite brave Kira. I admire that." Priscilla says, "I too have lost someone I cared deeply for. My sister and I were separated when we were young but we found each other years later. She had become a fierce huntress, just like her older sister, and we started a business together. We would take contracts from across the world and we saw some pretty amazing things. Then when all that mess with the demons happened, The Guardians called on us to aid in their fight. My sister said the local people still needed our help but I insisted that if we drive the demons out there would be no threat to the people. In the very first battle, it was apparent that we grossly underestimated our opponents. We fought hard and killed more than a few demons, but we were outmatched. Neither of us were very skilled with magic, I hadn't begun to study it yet, and as I turned around after killing another demon, I saw Kiela, my sister, fighting another. She struck a mighty blow and the demon fell to the ground, but as she turned her back the demon rose to its feet. I tried screaming out to her, but the demon grabbed her and ripped her in half." 

For the first time, you see Priscilla cry and you really feel bad for her. 

"Then what happened?" Kira says thoroughly engrossed in her story. 

Priscilla's eyes show her rage as she wipes her tears and says, "I ran over there as fast as I could and made sure every demon around watched as I tore his arms off and beat him to death with them. I don't remember much after that, but I was told when I awoke that my comrades had to drag me away from the demons because I refused to leave even when they were retreating." 

Holy shit that's brutal you think to yourself and Priscilla continues, "I didn't know what to do with my life. I didn't want to hunt anymore, it just reminded me of Kiela. I wandered around the world for a while, mostly doing small hunts just to get by, until one of my jobs took me to High Rock Mountain. I recognized Hakon from the battle on the island and even though we didn't see eye to eye, he respected my strength. He offered to teach me a little about magic and at first I thought it might help on a hunt, but for some reason, the more I learned about it, the more I became interested and wanted to know more. Before long I had become quite skilled and heard of a city powered entirely by magic. Naturally, I had to investigate it for myself and I wound up liking the city so much I bought a home and settled down there, well maybe not 'settled down'." 

Priscilla smiles and you laugh a little thinking of your first encounter with Priscilla. You notice both Kira and Priscilla are looking at you now, as if expecting you to tell a similar tale. 

"Well Mika? We shared our sob stories, you haven't ever lost anyone, besides Gwen?" Priscilla asks.

You think for a moment and say, "Things are very different where I come from. There are no monsters or sex crazy plants, and the people are all human, not mixed. That stuff was always fantasy, there's no way someone from my world would believe me if I told them what I've seen. People fought with each other sure, but for the most part it was peaceful, people really only died in accidents or from illness." 

"That sounds like a wonderful place. I wish I could visit sometime." Priscilla says.

Kira adds, "Yeah! Me too!" 

You smile and then yawn, which makes Kira yawn as well. 

"Let's turn in for the night." Priscilla says laying back down on the bed. 

Kira makes herself comfortable on one side of your pillow and you close your eyes, thinking about how glad you are to have made these friends. You drift off to sleep a short while later.


	19. Ambush

You feel a strange sensation coming from your stomach and you open your eyes to see Priscilla standing on the side of the bed. Her hands are are hovering just above your wound, glowing with a soft green light. 

"Good morning, I thought it best if we get an early start." Priscilla says as she continues to pour her magical energy directly into your wound. 

You look down and see that it has closed up considerably, although you still have a wound about two inches deep. 

You feel like your energy has returned as well and ask, "Wouldn't it be faster for me to use Mara's blessing?" 

Priscilla looks to you and says, "I suppose so, if you feel up for it." 

She takes her hands away as they cease to glow while you concentrate and begin to feel the same sensation as when Priscilla was healing you. 

"Don't over do it, you shouldn't rely on this for everything." Priscilla says as she gets up.

Your glowing eyes meet hers as you say, "I know. I need to train my body and not just my mind. I can't afford anymore setbacks. I need to learn to fight so I can avoid things like this." 

Priscilla smiles seeing that her words last night made an impact. 

"Where's Kira?" you ask, as she is not in the room sleeping as you would expect. 

"Once she learned how to control her energy better, she has been practicing her transformation like crazy. She says she can hold it for about twelve minutes now, and has been using it to help Farah's crew move debris and scavenge the ship. I told her not to use up all her energy and she said not to worry, but I think she's been using it as often as possible, that girl is hopeless." Priscilla says as she shakes her head and laughs. 

For most of the day, you alternate between healing and letting your energy recharge until you feel well enough to get out of bed. It is still slightly painful, but it's manageable, so you decide to go outside for some fresh air. The sun is just starting to set over the dunes and you see Farah once again standing at the bow smoking. You slowly make your way to her and she gives you a smile. 

"My hero. How are you feeling, I'm amazed you're on your feet already." She says while handing you her pipe. 

"Much better, thanks." You say taking a drag. 

"I thought you were going to die, I just couldn't understand why you would try to save me in that condition. Even Priscilla had her doubts, but that little fairy never gave up on you. She kept saying you would wake up soon and that you would be alright." Farah pauses to take a long drag before continuing, "That girl really is something, and so are you Ms. Champion." 

"Yeah, I wouldn't have made it this far without them. I'm glad they decided to come with me." You say as you look out in the direction Farah said Ardent City was in, but all you can see is sand. "I think I'm going to rest some more. I want to get going as soon as possible." 

"Sure thing, oh and Diedra says 'Thank you for saving the captain.' She was injured during the attack but it looks like she will be alright. She's resting in my quarters now." Farah says with a smile.

That's right you haven't seen Diedra since that night. You hope she didn't get hurt too badly as you walk back to your room. 

As you enter the room, Kira says, "There you are! I came back to check on you but you were gone." 

You sit on the edge on the bed and say, "I just wanted some air." 

Looking around, you don't see Priscilla so you ask Kira where she is. 

"Oh she said she was going to bring some food." She says obviously annoyed. "But that was a while ago now. I'm just gonna go get something myself, you stay here and rest up ok?" 

You smile and nod as she flies out of the room. Even though you've been in bed for two days, repeatedly using your power to heal your wound has kept your tired and it doesn't take long before you are asleep. In the morning, your hear Priscilla and Kira talking and open your eyes only to realize your covered in sweat. 

"Why did they take the sails down? Now we don't have any shade." Kira whines. 

"Farah said she got a reply from the rescue ship, they should be here in a few hours. They don't want to leave anything valuable behind for scavengers." Replies Priscilla. 

Kira perks up and says, "Oh ok! Then they can take us the rest of the way?" 

Priscilla shakes her head and says, "No. They're coming to pick up survivors and take what salvage they can carry. Farah and her crew need to be treated for their injuries and they also have a business to run, we will just have to continue on our own." 

Kira looks disheartened until you say, "It could be worse, we could have crashed in the middle of the ocean or something." 

"Oh Mika, you're awake!" Kira says flying over and inspecting your wound. 

It has healed more, but not as much as you would like. 

You close your eyes and focus until you feel the wound begin to heal before you say, "Why don't you two go get some food? I'm going to let this heal a little more, then we can leave." 

Kira looks concerned and says, "Are you sure you're ready? The ship itself isn't going to be picked up for a few more days, we could stay a little longer if you need to." 

You shake your head and say, "No, I've wasted enough time. We need to get to Ardent City as soon as possible. I feel much better now and this shouldn't take much longer to heal." 

Kira looks doubtful but Priscilla ushers her out and they leave the room. About an hour later, Kira and Priscilla return. You are already putting your armor on and Priscilla begins packing her things. A short while later, the three of you are ready to begin your trek through the desert. After only a few minutes of walking, you are dripping with sweat and your armor isn't helping things, but you can't afford to be without it if you were attacked, so you bear it. 

Kira seems to be feeling the effects of the heat as well as she lands on your shoulder and says, "I'm just gonna rest my wings for a bit." 

Priscilla on the other hand, seems to be enjoying the heat. Maybe it's because she's part lizard, but it's kind of annoying to see her so content in this miserable heat. Progress is slow, at least you think it is, it's hard to tell when all you can see is sand. You come to a small gathering of trees that starkly contrast the otherwise barren landscape, unfortunately, there is no water here, but the trees provide much needed shade. You and Kira sit under a tree and catch your breath while Priscilla sits atop a nearby rock and takes off her shirt. 

As she lies there and soaks in the sun she says, "It's starting to cool down a bit, perhaps we should find a place to camp before nightfall." 

"What's wrong with this spot?" Kira whines. 

"Most desert creatures are nocturnal, we would be easy prey if we stay out in the open. We should look for somewhere we could have our backs to a wall like a cave." Priscilla explains. 

You agree and begin searching the area with Kira. Even though there are some big rocks in the area, none of them lead to a cave.

You are about to head back to Priscilla when Kira says, "Hey Mika, what's that?" 

You look in the direction she's pointing and see what appears to be a large hole in the ground in the distance. 

"I don't know, let's ask Priscilla." You reply.

When you announce Kira's discovery, Priscilla looks worried and says, "Hmm... If I had to guess, I'd say it is a burrow. It would offer us shelter for the night, but most likely it already has an occupant." 

With no other option in sight, the three of you make your way to the edge of the hole. 

"So, what do you think lives down here?" You ask, not taking your eyes off the opening at the bottom of the hole. 

"I'm not sure, but if it's nocturnal then it should still be sleeping. Maybe we could surprise it and make this easy on ourselves, although if it isn't asleep we would be fighting in a confined space."   
Priscilla says weighing the options.

Both choices suck, so you choose the lesser of two evils and decide it's better to have shelter than to be out in the open all night. Carefully, you, Kira, and Priscilla make your way down into the burrow. 

"I don't see any webbing, so I guess this isn't a spider nest." Priscilla comments.

Kira replies, "That's good, the last one was scary enough, although she ended up being pretty nice."   
Priscilla turn to Kira and says, "Most likely it was due to her proximity to the city. She probably saw quite a few people and knew how to deal with them. Out here it's different, the creatures live more like animals than people and are more aggressive as well. If you see anyone, assume they're hostile." 

You stop for a moment and focus until you feel Mara's blessing awaken. 

"Maybe you should save that for the fight." Priscilla says.

"I'd rather not walk into a trap, besides I've been using it so frequently, as long as I keep it in check I can just sense things that are close by and it doesn't use as much energy." You reply as you try to get a feel for your surroundings. 

Priscilla seems impressed that you are learning how to control your powers so effectively and says, "Alright then, we can..." 

You interrupt Priscilla and say, "Shh... I just heard something." 

Priscilla and Kira look around silently as you try to pinpoint the origin of the sound. 

"It came from that way." You say pointing to a passage leading even further down. 

"Of course." Kira says quietly. 

She reaches for her bag and pulls out her staff again. Her eyes begin to glow and she conjures a sphere of light at the end of her staff. Her training is really showing now as the spell is throwing out much more light than last time. It actually illuminates the passage well enough for you to see a few feet in front of yourself and you cautiously descend deeper. The passage winds around as it continues down and leads to a room with huge holes in the walls and ceiling. 

Priscilla puts her hand on your shoulder and says, "This isn't good." 

She is about to continue when you both hear a series of clicks coming from the back of the room. You and Priscilla immediately scan the darkness beyond the light of Kira's spell but then you hear a similar noise coming from a different direction. 

"Scorpions." Priscilla says without taking her eyes off the holes in the walls. 

You hardly have time to comprehend this information as a dark shape emerges from one of the holes in the wall. Kira swings her staff and the sphere of light floats towards the figure revealing it's features. A woman with jet black hair and piercing red eyes stares back at you. She is nude and her hips are covered in black chitin that is attached to a massive scorpion body. The woman stands up fully and smiles, showing off her fangs. 

You draw your sword and prepare for a fight when you notice another scorpiongirl coming out of a hole on the ceiling. You focus a bit more and learn there are about ten of them all together. 

"Damn, there's more of them in the walls." You say as Kira readies a fireball and Priscilla brandishes two small knives from their sheathes on her hips. 

The other scorpiongirls seem to be smaller than the one that first appeared, but their pincers and stingers are surely just as deadly. There is no room for error here and you assume a defensive stance. The larger scorpion girl hisses and the rest of her followers come out of hiding, hissing and snapping their pincers at you.

Priscilla says, "Mika, try infusing your energy into your sword. Give it an electrical charge, the vibrations from the lightning should help penetrate their shells. Kira, try to stay up high out of their reach and give us support." 

You take her advice and let your energy flow into your blade as Kira nods and flies up higher. A white aura surrounds your sword and dances like fire for a moment before turning into the familiar purple electricity. One of the scorpiongirls charges you and more follow her. You ready yourself and just as the scorpiongirl's giant pincer strikes, you sidestep and slash down hard. Your blade cuts all the way through the girl's chitinous exoskeleton, leaving a gaping wound in her abdomen. 

She hisses and slumps to the floor as another scorpion girl leaps over her towards you. You raise your sword and block her attack, struggling to keep your balance. Kira throws fire at the girl which distracts her long enough for you to sink your blade between her breasts. As you retract your sword from the now lifeless body, a pincer hits you in the ribs and knocks you to the side. Two of the scorpion girls are climbing the walls, attempting to deal with Kira, but she's too quick and they can't get close. 

As you stand, you narrowly avoid being impaled by a stinger and quickly raise your sword, cutting off a portion of the tail. The girl scurries backward, blood pouring from what's left of her tail, as another charges in to take her place. Priscilla is suddenly thrown across the room and just before she impacts the wall, she flips over and lands on all fours, pouncing off the wall onto a different scorpion girl and driving her twin daggers right into her neck. She quickly finds a new target and rushes towards her. 

Priscilla is fighting like a wild animal and it is somewhat frightening how efficiently she's killing these monsters. This must be how she survived fighting the demons all those years ago. Your thoughts are cut short as a pincer grabs hold of your torso and lifts you into the air. You turn your head and see it is the large scorpiongirl holding you and her tail is poised to strike. Your body seems to move on pure instinct as you stab the woman's pincer and she drops you. Her tail strikes out and you barely manage to move your head out of the way. As your feet hit the ground, one of the smaller scorpion girls grabs your leg, but you quickly impale her on your blade. 

You see Kira out of the corner of your eye and she is holding her own against the two girls attacking her. She darts around the room avoiding their pincers and makes it to an empty corner. She transforms as the scorpion girls close in on her and fires two arrows in quick succession at them. Only one finds its mark, but Kira releases the transformation just as the other girl strikes, dodging it and preparing another fireball. 

She hurls it at the girl's face and it hits, the girl screaming in pain. Kira flies in while charging a much bigger fireball, and as the scorpion girl flails about in pain, Kira comes to a stop right in front of her and begins pushing the fireball directly into the scorpiongirl's eye as she blindly tries to hit the tiny target with anything she can. Her shrieks of agony only last a few seconds before she slumps to the ground. 

There are only four scorpion girls left now, including the larger one and you slowly back up to where Kira and Priscilla are. The three of you have your backs to a wall as the remaining scorpion girls encircle you. 

"That should be enough." Priscilla says as her hand glows just like it did when you met her. 

She moves her hand from left to right and you can see the girls' eyes begin to glow with Priscilla's energy. Suddenly, they start attacking the air around them and don't seem to see you anymore. The larger scorpionwoman however, seems unaffected and looks confusedly at her kin before hissing and charging at you. Both her giant pincers come together and smash down hard. You manage to block it, but the girl clamps down on your arm as she continues to try to crush you with her other pincer. 

Kira tries throwing a fireball at the woman but her human torso dodges it and she strikes with her stinger. At the last possible second, Priscilla leaps in and grabs the tail just behind the stinger, rendering it immobile. The woman lets go of your arm and raises her claw to try to smash Priscilla. Kira quickly transforms and fires an arrow that hits the woman in the chest. She takes a step back and eases the pressure holding you down, and in that instant, you drag your blade against her pincer with lightning speed, cutting it in half, and you jump into the air. 

The woman is trying to remove the arrow and the last thing she sees is you landing back on the ground and sheathing your sword as a clean line of blood forms around her neck and her head falls to the floor. Her body goes limp and you see Priscilla is taking care of the last scorpion girl while she is still under her spell. A few minutes later, the three of you sit against a wall exhausted, looking at your slain foes. 

"I think that went quite well. No one is injured right?" Priscilla asks. 

You check yourself and don't see or feel anything wrong so you say, "I think so." You're slightly amazed you made it through such a fierce battle unscathed. 

"So that's all of them right? We can rest now?" Kira asks sprawled out on the floor. 

You try to sense if there are more of the scorpiongirls hiding somewhere, but you don't sense anything big enough to be a threat. 

"No, that was all of them." You say as you wonder if these girls could have been talked down instead of killed. 

"Right then, let's make camp already so we can relax, I've really worked up an appetite!" Priscilla says with a smile. 

You set a few simple traps around the entrance while Kira and Priscilla cook a small meal. After eating, you feel exhausted from the heat and the battle, so you decide to call it a night. Kira and Priscilla's conversation slowly fades behind the crackle of the fire echoing off the walls as you fall asleep.


	20. Andere

In the morning, you are glad to leave the smell of rotting corpses behind, even as you enter the sweltering desert heat again. After an hour or so of walking, you can no longer see the burrow and something dawns on you, Hakon never said how you were supposed to get back after reaching Ardent City. You really hope you don't have to walk all the way back, but at this point, you can only move forward. Hours later, the sun is beating down from overhead as you and Priscilla leave a trail of footprints in the sand.

Kira stops and says, "Am I dreaming, or are there a bunch of people over there?" 

She points to a small gathering of trees in the distance. Sure enough, you can make out the silhouettes of people moving around and it looks like they've set up a tiny village in the middle of the desert. It takes a while, but you come to the edge of the village and a mousegirl walks out of one of the huts and greets you. 

"Oh! Hello there, I haven't seen you around here before." She says with a warm smile. 

The mousegirl is about five feet tall and she has light blue eyes and a long skinny pink tail that flicks about curiously. Her skin is a light pink color and her short black hair makes her look even cuter. 

"Hello, we're just on our way to Ardent City." You reply, admiring her soft looking light brown fur. 

"Oh really? Well it's still about another day away, you guys should stay with us tonight!" She says excitedly. 

You look at Priscilla who warned you about the creatures in this area, but she looks relaxed, so you agree to stay in the village. 

"I'm Marlene by the way." The mouse girl says as she runs her small fingers though her hair. 

"I'm Mika, and this is Kira and Priscilla." You say introducing yourself. 

"Welcome to Andere, most of us are from Ardent City, but we were tired of constantly being under attack by the demons, so we set up out here. It's not much to look at, but the people are all very nice." Marlene leads you over to a big tent and continues, "We are actually having a festival right now, though we don't have any party favors so it might not look like it." 

You are relieved that you don't have to fight for a place to sleep tonight, and this tiny village seems pretty normal, until Marlene opens the tent and leads you inside. The tent is actually a bar, but instead of just drinking, most people are having sex. The thing that stands out the most though, is the fact that everyone is female and yet every one of them has a cock. Marlene leads you to the counter while you try not to stare at the different women in various states of ecstasy. 

Over the moans of pleasure the bartender, a redhead puppygirl says, "Welcome, care to try our homemade brew?" 

You are about to reply, but Priscilla apparently found an empty mug on the bar and is holding it up saying, "The first round's on me!" 

It's starting to get dark outside and you know leaving now isn't a good idea, but you have to admit, all the moaning and sounds of sex are getting you turned on, so you decide to enjoy the festivities. 

"Sure, why not." You say as Kira cheers. 

Marlene sits next to you at the bar and in this position, you can see a bulge slowly growing under her shorts. 

"I'm glad you're so, accepting, of everyone here." Marlene says looking at you up and down. 

"Well, I drank a potion a while back and now... I'm just like you." You say looking down at your pants.

"Oooooh, really now, I'd love to hear more about it." Marlene says as she moves her hand to your crotch and rubs against it softly. 

Your cock stirs to life and begins to harden as Marlene gives it a light squeeze. 

Kira takes a drink and says, "Woooo! Someone's getting excited!" 

You move your hand over to Kira and with one finger, dunk her head into her mug. She pops back up and coughs, trying to wipe the beer from her face as you and Priscilla laugh. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice a small girl in the corner, drinking by herself. 

She's pale and very young looking. She's also completely nude and has thin black demonic looking wings sprouting from her lower back. Her black shoulder length hair matches her eyes. She idly plays with one of her small breasts as she stares at you and your friends. She is surrounded by other patrons all fawning over her as she ignores them. 

You decide not to let it bother you though as you turn back to Marlene and ask, "So, is everyone in Ardent City... like us?" 

Marlene looks at you a bit confused and says, "No there are all kinds of... oh, you mean, haha no. The demons regularly visit the brothel in town and take whatever they please. The people there are, very open to sex, and this little 'mutation' became quite common." 

You ask Marlene if she is happy with the way things turned out and she says, "Well it's not what any of us wanted, but we decided to make the best of it. Like this festival, it's our way of accepting what we are now and embracing it." 

You look around and see Priscilla with a familiar haze in her eyes as she slips out of her clothes and sits on a random woman's lap. Priscilla asks the woman to buy her a drink and when she does, her hand moves down and begins stroking the woman's cock. You guess she's just really horny because you have more than enough arens to keep drinking all night. 

Turning your gaze back to the bar, you see the bartender leaning on the counter, resting her chin in her hand and idly rubbing Kira's tiny pussy under her thin dress. 

"Your friends are getting into the spirit, what about you? You don't see anything you like?" Marlene says letting her loose tank top fall off one of her shoulders revealing one of her small breasts. 

You smile and lean in, planting a kiss right on Marlene's lips. She returns the favor and flicks her tongue around in your mouth while working her hand into your pants. Your armor makes it difficult to access though, so Marlene sits on top of the bar and spreads her legs, resting her small feet on your shoulders. You draw your gaze from her cute little feet, along the length of her legs and zero in on her pussy. Taking her shorts off, you grab her cock and begin stroking as you lean in and lick her pussy. 

"Oh yeah! Right there is good." Marlene coos as you tenderly lick her folds and her juices begin dribbling down your chin. 

Your tongue dances around her clit and your finger rubs against her butthole, making her tremble and moan. Your own desires are building up and you bring your face up from Marlene's pussy. She looks almost sad for a moment until you take the head of her cock into your mouth. You lick all around over the tip and trace the ring where it meets the skin. Marlene slowly begins thrusting her cock deeper into your mouth as she leans back to lay on the bar. You relax and lean down further, letting the mouse girl's cock slide into your throat until your nose is pressed up against her soft fur. Marlene's hands move to her nipples and begin pinching and pulling them as you bring your head up until only the tip is still in your mouth. 

You slosh your tongue around in her pre cum and flick it over the hole as you move your hand and begin rubbing her clit. The mouse girl lets out a squeak as she grabs your hair and pushes her cock into your throat again. When she bottoms out she leans forward and hugs your head tightly. Her cock throbs and she moans as she spews hot cum down your throat again and again. 

"Oohhhh.... ahhh, ahhhhhh." Marlene pants as she runs her small fingers through your hair and tries to catch her breath before saying, "That was wonderful, I hope your ready for round two." 

You smile as you raise your head and Marlene's cock pops out of your mouth. The mouse girl slides off the bar and takes off your pants. Your cock is hard already and it bounces out and hits Marlene in the face. She just giggles and then starts licking the tip, while her hand finds its way to your pussy. Turning slightly, you rest an elbow on the bar and begin massaging your breast, as Marlene's head bobs and her fingers are working their magic in your pussy. After a few minutes of bliss, Marlene pops your cock out of her mouth and takes it into her hands. She begins stroking it as she gets on her knees and uses her tongue to trace a line from your inner thigh to your anus. 

Her slender tongue gently presses against your flesh and she circles around a few times before spreading your ass with her hands and slowly pushing her tongue as deep as it will go. The feeling of her tongue flicking around in your ass is very arousing and you try to calm yourself before you cum. Marlene slowly retracts her tongue from your ass and practically drags her face up along your pussy, slathering her with your juices. The mouse girl greedily laps up the juices flowing out and tries to coax more by stroking your cock faster. You feel very close and Marlene must have picked up on this because she giggles and then stands up and turns around so she can lean over one of the bar stools, exposing her pussy and ass while her cock is pressed against the stool pointing straight down. 

Marlene looks back and flicks her tail around while saying, "Come on, don't keep a girl waiting." 

You don't need to be told twice and you run the tip of your cock along her pussy. When you have enough lube built up, you take your thumbs and spread Marlene's ass while you press the tip of your dick against her hole. Slowly, you begin inching deeper into Marlene's ass and she is loving every second of it. Her mouth is hanging open and she has a look of pure lust in her eyes. You slide all the way in and hold Marlene there for a second, feeling her insides against your cock, before you begin slowly pumping in and out of her. 

Both of you moan and you reach around Marlene and grab her cock. It is hard again and running your fingers over the tip causes her pre cum to leak out and drip onto the floor. Matching the rhythm of your hips, you start to stroke her cock and she squeaks in pleasure. Your climax is approaching rapidly and you jerk Marlene's cock faster. 

"I'm cumming!" Marlene yells as she squirts her cum all over the floor in one huge spurt after another.

This pushes you over the edge and you thrust all the way in and cum deep into her ass. Your eyes instinctively shut as rope after rope of cum fill Marlene's ass. You slide out of Marlene's well used hole and take your seat at the bar while she just lays there on the stool, your cum dripping out of her ass and running down her leg. 

Taking another look around, Priscilla is laying on a table getting fucked by the woman who bought her a drink and she is sucking off some other cat girl. Kira on the other hand, is sitting against her mug sleeping. You're not sure if it's the alcohol, but a devilish thought comes to mind. You ask the bartender if she has any string and she unties a small decorative ribbon on one of the bottles on the shelf behind her. You thank her and move to the seat in front of Kira. Wrapping the ribbon around her waist and arms, you tie a knot in the back of the mug.

Seeing that Marlene is back on her feet, you say, "Would you mind helping me out with something?" 

Kira wakes up noticing she can't move and sees you and Marlene both standing over her, stroking your cocks. 

"Let me go... this isn't funny." Kira says slowly grasping your intentions. 

You ignore her and turn your head to kiss Marlene. She grabs your cock and takes over for you so you do the same and you have to admit, it feels better when someone else does it. Kira protests, but your moaning drowns it out and soon, you feel close to orgasm again. One look at Marlene's face says she's ready to burst as well so you aim each other's cocks right at Kira and let it out. The combined torrent of cum completely covers the little fairy and she struggles to breathe as it continues to rain down on her. You take a seat and Marlene sits on your lap while Kira coughs and wipes the thick cum away from her face. 

"That was mean..." Kira says but seeing her like this is just too funny. 

You laugh a little and say, "Don't be like that, you tied me up at that milk farm remember?" 

Even under all that cum, you can tell Kira is smiling as she says, "Yeah, that was fun, but we're even now, so don't think you can just do stuff like this whenever!" 

As soon as you untie the ribbon, Kira lunges at you and hugs your face, all covered in cum. 

"Ha! That's what you get!" she says as she flies around the room expecting you to chase her. 

You just laugh and wipe your face while Marlene brings drinks for you two. A few hours later, you feel like it is late and you ask Marlene where you can sleep. 

"Oh, of course." She says leading you outside. "Your friends already crashed." Marlene says as she leads you into a small hut. Priscilla is nude and sprawled out on a small bed and Kira is on top of Priscilla's clothes. 

You wearily climb into bed beside Priscilla and Marlene says, "Don't forget to say goodbye before you leave cutie." 

She shuts the door and you lay your head on Priscilla's arm. Maybe it's the alcohol again, but her scaly skin feels pretty good and you get comfortable, but then Priscilla turns onto her side and faces you, still asleep. Her arm moves up behind your head and gently ushers it down towards her breasts. You look at the lizard girl's dark nipples and think, why not, and fall asleep sucking on Priscilla's nipple.


	21. Ardent City

In the morning, you feel the bed moving and open your eyes to see the cute demon girl from last night about six inches away from your face. 

"Awww, I was hoping I could finish before you woke up." She says as she smiles and lowers her self down onto your cock in one motion. 

You gasp at the unexpected feeling of pleasure as the girl's pussy muscles seem to be milking your cock without her moving at all. 

"You didn't say hi last night so I thought I'd introduce myself." The girl says as she leans in and whispers in your ear, "I'm C.C." 

You look over at Priscilla and notice the demon girl's tail is sliding in and out of her pussy as she moans softly, still asleep. 

"Don't worry." C.C. says softly, "If I was going to hurt you, I could have done it while you slept, but this doesn't hurt, does it?" Her pussy goes into overdrive and you don't think you can't take much more. "Be a good girl now and give your cum to C.C." 

The pale demon girl says as she plays with your breasts. Your cock explodes, as if by her command, and you shoot your load deep into C.C.'s womb. 

You lay there panting for a moment before saying, "Wh-what are you doing here?" 

C.C. just smiles and says, "I told you already, or were you a bit, distracted?" She runs one of her hands down from her small breasts to her pussy. 

"No, I mean... Why are you here?" You ask trying to cover yourself with the blanket.

C.C. sits on the edge of the bed facing you, her legs are spread open and give you an unobstructed view of her hairless pussy. 

"I run a brothel in Ardent City, and I was scouting for some more girls to work for us. I already have a promising candidate but, how would you like to earn boatloads of arens and feel great while doing it?" C.C. says with a smile.

You look at C.C. and say, "No thanks, I have something important I have to do." 

C.C. looks disappointed and says, "Alright then, but if you change your mind, we're open twenty four seven." 

The small demon girl hops off the bed and exits the room after giving you a quick wink, leaving you wondering what just happened. Priscilla and Kira wake up a moment later and you tell them about the girl. 

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" Kira says with a smile. 

"No, she said she was from Ardent City though, so she must be going back. Do you think we should go with her?" You ask Priscilla. 

"Hmm... if her skin wasn't red, she is most likely a succubus and not a demon, so if you're alright with a nearly unlimited libido, I suppose she would know the quickest route to our destination." Priscilla says as she puts on her clothes. 

"So what, she's just going to be groping me the whole time?" You ask, unsure if it's such a good idea anymore. 

"You'd be lucky if all she did was fondle you, think of it like this, succubi constantly exude a pheromone that is the base component in lust draft potions. It affects everyone around them, although the effects are less noticeable than a concentrated amount like in the potions, but it also affects the succubus herself. They are almost constantly aroused and have a passion for sex that goes beyond pleasure or love." Priscilla explains.

"Ok then, how about we follow her from a distance?" You ask. 

"That could work, providing she doesn't see us." Priscilla responds. 

"Let's try to find her and get to Ardent City." You say as the three of you exit the hut and come face to face with Marlene and C.C. 

"Morning cutie!" Marlene says as she waves.

You reply, "Good morning." 

"Did I hear you say you're off to Ardent City as well? Let's go together then, the more the merrier." C.C. says as she waves you over. 

Just your luck, oh well, at least you will be in Ardent City soon. Marlene talks to Priscilla and Kira as you all follow C.C.

"Were you waiting for us?" You ask C.C.

The small girl just winks at you and continues on. 

After you've passed the village, you ask Marlene, "So how did you end up with C.C.?" 

She smiles and says, "After I showed you to your room, C.C. approached me and offered me a job in her brothel. She said she was watching us last night and liked it so much, she said she knew she found the person she was looking for. It's not my first choice, but I can send some of the arens I make back here to help the village, besides C.C. assured me that she has an arrangement with the demons, they leave her girls alone as long as C.C. services them, and by the way she looked when she said it, I think she enjoys it." 

You aren't sure if you should try to stop Marlene, but decide it's not your place, she isn't being forced after all. Before you know it, the village is no longer in sight and as you continue to trudge through the sandy dunes. 

"So how often do you leave the city?" You ask the succubus.

C.C. looks back and says, "Oh I don't know, maybe once a month or so. It wasn't easy finding new girls though, until Andere was set up. Now I usually just make the trip down there and there's always someone who wants to earn some quick money." 

You think for a moment and then ask, "If you travel outside the city so much, aren't you worried about being attacked?" 

C.C. laughs and says, "Attacked? I'm a succubus, there's only one thing people want from me and I'm more than happy to oblige." C.C. smiles and adds, "Besides, after I'm done with them, they won't even have enough energy to stand, let alone hurt me." 

It seems like her powers are a double edged sword. She can overpower her enemies using their own lust against them, but she hardly has any control over her own. You wonder if this girl is really happy but decide not to worry about it, maybe things will change once the demons have been defeated. Time seems to drag on and the desert heat reaches its peak. 

C.C., who is leading the group, suddenly stops and raises her hand before saying, "Wait." 

You focus and in a moment, you can sense something big under the sand a few feet in front of C.C. 

"Come on out, I know you're there." C.C. says wagging her finger towards the sand. 

The ground erupts as a snakewoman appears and says, "So much for a surprise, oh well, I really do love it when they scream!" 

C.C.'s eyes begin to glow a dark purple color and she says, "You look like you need to relax." 

The snake woman stops advancing and looks flustered. Her hands move to her breasts and soon she is writhing around on the sand pleasuring herself. 

C.C. turns to you and says, "See? I don't have much trouble traveling alone. She'll be busy for a while so let's keep moving, Ardent City isn't far now." 

Your group moves past the snake girl lost in ecstasy and makes it to the top of a large dune. 

"There! See it in the distance?" C.C. says as she points to the horizon. 

What look like giant cranes stick up over what you assume to be another large wall, similar to the other major cities you've been in. Finally, your destination is in sight. 

A new sense of urgency hits you and you say, "Alright, let's get over there and find this demon." 

It takes the rest of the day, but you arrive at the gate to Ardent City just before nightfall. 

"Hey." C.C. says just before you approach the stairs leading to the gate. "There are a lot of demons here but they aren't the only ones to watch out for. If anyone gives you trouble, just tell them you're with me, that should make them back off." 

Kira chimes in and says, "Really? Are you that strong?" 

C.C. just laughs and says, "No, nothing like that. I told you, I own the brothel, which means I control who gets to have fun and who doesn't. Since we're the only brothel for miles around, no one wants to get on my bad side." 

You can't help feeling uneasy about how she describes the city, but there's no turning back now. There are no guards outside and upon entering, you stop to admire the architecture. Everything, from the buildings to the street you're standing on, looks like it is part of a machine. The lamp posts lighting the city are made of gears that spiral upwards into a globe. The turning of the gears combined with the other mechanical sounds of the city make it feel almost like it's alive. 

"The whole city is one big machine, it generates its own electricity and everything. Come on, I'll show you my place." C.C. says enthusiastically.

You reply, "Actually, we're looking for someone, that's why we came here." 

C.C. looks a bit disappointed but says, "Ok, well I know a lot of people here, so what's their name? Maybe I know them?" 

You look down, realizing you don't have much to go on, before saying, "I don't know their name. All I was told is that there was a demon living here that was different than the others, one that has fought against the demons to protect a village." 

C.C. grins from ear to ear as she says, "Yeah I know who you're looking for." 

"Really who is it? Are they here?" Kira asks looking around. 

"Yeah, she works part time at my brothel, she's kind of a bitch though. I'll introduce you to her, come on!" C.C. says and leads you down a few streets before stopping at a luxurious looking building. 

"This is your brothel? It looks more like a mansion." Priscilla says looking at the ornate metal trim around the dark wooden building. 

"It was, until I bought it and made it my business." C.C. says nonchalantly as she opens the doors.

"Welcome home Mistress!" Two cat girls quickly walk over and begin fawning over C.C., who ignores them, even as they begin rubbing her pussy. "I don't know if Astrid is here right now, let me go check the schedule. I'll be right back." C.C. says as she removes one of the girl's hands and walks out of the room. 

You and Priscilla take a seat on an expensive looking couch while Kira continues to buzz around, looking at the various paintings and sculptures. You notice all of them depict something sexual and just write it off as normal for this crazy world. You hear heavy footsteps coming down the main staircase and turn to see a demon making his way toward you. He stares at you as he makes his way down the steps and stops. Your heart is pounding as you sit there, not knowing what he intends to do. 

Then C.C. returns and casually approaches the demon while saying, "I hope you've had a wonderful evening. Next time, maybe you can play with some of my new girls?" 

The demon scoffs at you before turning around and walking out. You sigh in relief and thank C.C. 

"Don't thank me, I enforce a very strict no violence rule here. Wouldn't want to ruin the furniture now would we?" C.C. says with a smile. "I looked at the schedule and Astrid already worked today. She's probably at her house, or at the bar, but I think it would be better if you met her here, so maybe you should just sleep here tonight? Astrid has a shift in the morning so you can meet her then." 

You shake your head and say, "I don't have a lot of time, I need to talk to her as soon as possible."

C.C. replies, "I understand but Astrid is, well, she has made quite a few enemies over the years and isn't the most trusting person. She always has to be on the defensive because the demons have tried all kinds of dirty tricks to get her to lower her guard. If you try to talk about fighting demons and things like that, she will probably assume you are there to kill her and she won't hold back. However, under my roof, she respects my rules and would probably be more willing to hear you out." 

You don't want to wait anymore. Healing your injuries from the Elysium and crossing the desert took long enough, but you can see the point C.C. is trying to make. If she's a demon, you would rather avoid having to fight her if possible, especially since you are trying to convince her to join you. 

"Alright, we'll wait til morning then, thanks for the warning C.C." You say. 

"No problem, I'm still holding out hope you will come around and work for me." She says with a sly smile. 

"We have a few rooms that aren't used for the customers, you can sleep there tonight." She says leading you upstairs and into a lavishly decorated room. "The restroom is down the hall and I'll send one of the girls up with some food in a bit, make yourselves comfortable." 

C.C. closes the door and you sit down on the edge of the bed. 

"So, any ideas what we should say to Astrid?" You ask, hoping Priscilla has an answer.

Priscilla sighs and says, "It would be more productive to think about what we are going to do next. Whether this Astrid joins us or not, we still don't have a plan." 

Damn, she's right. Hakon said he would fight with you, but will this really be enough? Would it turn out any differently than when the Guardians fought the demons? The fight against the scorpiongirls wasn't that bad, but you remember the gaping wounds you saw on the goblins when you first discovered Gwen had been taken by the demons. Would your armor fare any better? 

The negative thoughts swirl around in your head until Priscilla says, "First, we need to get back to Valen city. It's the closest city to the island and we would need to stock up on a few things anyways. Although it is a bit out of the way, we should let Hakon know we're ready. It would be faster than sending a messenger after we arrive and then waiting for him." 

You sigh and look up at Kira and Priscilla and say, "I don't know if I'm ready, but then again, I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready to face something like this." 

Priscilla puts her hand on your shoulder as she sits beside you and says, "It won't be easy, but we knew that from the beginning. None of us are alone and if worse comes to worse, we'll just save your friend and get out of there. We can always try to defeat them some other time, the most important thing is your friend right?" 

Again, Priscilla cuts right to the heart of the matter and her words instill a sense of comfort. 

"Yeah, you're right, but I'm still going to give everything I have to try and stop the demons." You reply feeling more determined than ever. 

A knock at the door interrupts your conversation and you get up to see who it is. 

A girl with light blue hair smiles at you and says, "C.C. said to bring you guys some food, can I come in?" 

You step aside and look at the girl's wings as she enters. They are the same color as her hair, but they seem to have replaced the girl's arms. She has three small claws near the end of her wings and they look almost like small fingers. Her legs are covered in tan colored scales like a bird and she has a similar bird like feathers just above her ass. 

"I'm Remi." The girl says wheeling in a cart of food behind her. "C.C. told me to get you whatever you wanted, so just let me know." 

You look at the huge cart and then back to Remi and say, "Thank you but this will be plenty." 

Remi moves close to you and smiles. "Are you sure I can't do anything else for you?" She says, putting emphasis on anything. 

"Uh, yeah we'll let you know if we need something." You reply.

Remi doesn't seem to mind and says, "Ok then, eat up! Oh yeah, I stay in the room next door so if you need me, that's where I'll be." 

You thank her again and Remi leaves the room. The food the harpy brought is just as extravagant as the brothel itself. Platter after platter filled with delicious looking food puts your strategy meeting on hold for a while as the three of you dig in. 

You lay back onto the bed after a satisfying meal and Kira says, "I'm stuffed, and I didn't save any room for dessert." 

"Indeed, that was quite the feast C.C. prepared for us." Priscilla adds. 

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." C.C. says as she enters the room. 

"Yeah, it was great, thanks." You say as you sit up. 

C.C. makes her way over to the bed and sits beside you. 

"So what's up?" Kira asks. 

"Well I wanted to know what brings you all the way out here. Why do you want to meet Astrid?" C.C. responds. 

You explain your situation and how you hope Astrid will help you fight against the demons. 

"So the demons took your lover and you want Astrid to help you get her back?" C.C. asks with a smile.  
"No, it isn't like that. She's been my friend since childhood." You try to explain.

C.C. ignores you and says, "That's really romantic and all, but I don't think Astrid will help you just to save someone she doesn't even know. However, she is sick and tired of always having to watch her back, so maybe she will go, even if it's only to better her own situation." 

You guess you couldn't expect her to put her life on the line for you, but if she's willing to help fight, that's good enough. Maybe that's how you can convince her to join you, not necessarily as an ally, but you would both be going there to kill demons, so you wouldn't be enemies either. 

"So you're gonna save your lover and then what? Go back to your world?" C.C. asks. 

"Well, I heard that the factory on the island is spreading the corruption, and since we will be there already, we're going to try to destroy it." You respond.

C.C. is surprised and says, "Wow you're really taking it all the way, huh?" C.C. looks at your companions and then says, "And it's just the three of you?" 

"We have another powerful ally that said he would fight with us, but yes, even with Astrid, there would still only be five of us." You reply. 

"Well count me in too!" C.C. exclaims. 

"Wait, what? You want to fight the demons?" You say in disbelief. 

"There's going to be a lot of them, you know that right? Besides, I'm a succubus, I can 'distract' quite a few of them and make it easier on you guys." The succubus says with a smile.

You remember Hakon and Priscilla describing the near endless amount of soldiers the demons have and you suppose she could be useful. Your eyes meet Priscilla's for a moment and she gives a slight nod. You both know you will have to keep an eye on her. 

"I still don't understand, why do you want to help us, I thought you had a deal with the demons?" You say trying to determine her motives.

C.C. crosses her arms and says, "The deal I made was the demons could use me however they want in exchange for leaving my girls alone. I never said anything about having loyalty to them. I won't lie, I do enjoy it when they fuck me, but I'm a succubus! That's just how I am. I'd rather not have to worry about them betraying us one day so if you're gonna go kick down their front door, I wanna go and help too." 

C.C. seems really fired up and you suppose at this point, you need all the allies you can get. 

"So, will you let me help you?" C.C. says looking around the room. 

Priscilla says, "If you intend to help us then we will accept, but if you try anything, just know I will be watching you, we can't afford anymore setbacks." 

"I know that it seems sudden, but I've been unhappy with this 'deal' for a while now. Besides, I can use a special kind of magic." C.C. says and waits for a response. 

Priscilla's ears perk up at the mention of 'special' magic and she says, "What kind of magic, can you show us?" 

C.C. nods and raises her hand as a black sphere forms in her palm. "It's dark energy and it's really strong, but the cool thing is..." C.C. changes the sphere into black fire and shows it off proudly saying, "I can mix fire energy into it and it makes it burn hot enough to melt almost anything!" 

Priscilla looks skeptical and says, "Anything?" 

"Well, I tried using it on the wall surrounding the city once, just to test it out. It spread more than I thought it would and when I finally put it out, there was a big hole all the way through the wall. Astrid was really mad and she made me stand guard with her while they repaired the wall. Ugh... that was the most boring month ever." C.C. whines.

"A month to repair the damage from just one fireball?" You ask trying to imagine how big the hole must have been. 

"Well, not entirely, the workers kept getting distracted, I told Astrid it would happen but she just gave them a scary look and they got back to work pretty quick." C.C. giggles.

You shake your head and say, "Well, thank you C.C., we need all the help we can get." 

C.C. walks to the door and says, "I'm gonna go take a bath now, I'm glad we talked. When Astrid comes in tomorrow, I'll arrange a meeting. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning." 

As you wonder if C.C. can really be trusted, Kira says, "That sounds nice, I'm tired after all that food." 

You agree, feeling tired after walking though the desert all day. The bed is king sized and there is room for both you and Priscilla to stretch out. 

"This is certainly a nice change of pace." Priscilla says laying down on the opposite side of the bed. 

"Yeah, better enjoy it while we can." You add as you get comfortable and close your eyes for the night.


	22. Assassin

When you wake in the morning, your stomach feels strange, but there is nothing outwardly wrong. As you get up, you feel like you are being watched, but there is no one besides Kira and Priscilla in the room. You dismiss the feeling and wake Priscilla and Kira. Remi returns a short while later with more food and takes last night's cart away. Eating only makes your stomach feel worse so you decide to skip the meal. 

"Are you alright Mika?" Priscilla asks. 

"Yeah, just a stomach ache. I'm fine." You reply. 

C.C. enters the room a few minutes later and says, "Alright, Astrid is here. I told her to wait in the meeting room, are you ready?" 

You nod and C.C. leads you downstairs and through a huge door into a large room. There are long tables end to end forming a square in the middle of the room. Sitting in one of the chairs is a woman with red skin. She has two large horns on her head and small black wings on her back. Her black hair goes down to the middle of her back and her tail ends in a spade like shape. She's wearing a tight black corset and has matching long black gloves and boots. 

"Hey Astrid, these are the people I was telling you about." C.C. says as Astrid's dark pink eyes meet yours from across the room. 

Astrid crosses her arms under her massive breasts and says, "So who are you supposed to be?" 

As you are about to answer, you get lightheaded for a moment and then shake it off and say, "We're going to fight the..." 

Your voice trails off and the next thing you know, you are in Priscilla's arms. 

"Mika, what's wrong? You just collapsed, are you sure you're alright?" Priscilla asks.

You feel like the room is spinning and struggle to your feet. 

"Ha! This is who you wanted me to help? She can't even stand! What's wrong with her?" Astrid says. 

You hold out your hand and say, "Wait, I need your help to..." 

Suddenly, a darkness appears around you and in the blink of an eye, you are no longer in the brothel. Your stomach feels like it's turning inside out and you vomit onto the floor. After catching your breath, you realize you are standing in what seems to be a cathedral that lies in ruins. You quickly look around but you don't see anyone, so you concentrate and feel Mara's blessing awaken. Something is coming so you turn around towards the doors and as they open you see a demon. 

She has very long, light blue hair and her eyes almost glow with the same color. Her skin is pale and she has long black wings on her lower back. She gracefully flies over to you as you step back and brace yourself. 

"That power should be mine you know, I would put it to a far better use." The woman says without emotion.

This must be Iliya, with those eyes, there's no doubt about it. 

You quickly look for any way to escape while you say, "Why do you need my power?" 

Iliya grabs your chin and pulls you close before saying, "Humans don't deserve power, they are my pets. They should be chained up and obey my every command." She smiles while looking you over and then says, "But you just don't know when to die do you? I sent that little ship into the sand and yet you crawled out and survived. I was curious to see how far you could make it, but I've grown bored now. I've decided to kill you and put an end to this rebellion of yours." 

Thunderous footsteps echo through the cathedral as another demon walks in. He is easily ten feet tall and is insanely muscular. One of his horns is broken and he stands with his arms folded, staring you down. 

"This is Vestix, my best assassin. Have fun you two." Iliya says before vanishing into the darkness. 

You draw your sword but the hulking demon is much faster than you anticipated and he lands a vicious blow, throwing you across the room. You slam into the benches and lose your grip on your sword as the pews slide across the floor and pile up against the wall. Vestix lets out a guttural roar and charges in again as you rush towards your sword. You realize you aren't going to make it and barely evade the demon's claws as you roll to the side. You remember the huge stream of electricity you produced when you were with Hakon and decide on fire this time. 

You unleash a continuous stream of searing flames and it hits Vestix full force. Instead of being burned however, his skin begins to crack open and glow like fire. He growls and walks into the flames, coming closer to you. You cut the flow of magic and take a few steps back. Fire isn't working against him, it isn't even slowing him down. You look towards your sword again, it's too far to get without leaving yourself open. 

Vestix charges again and you attempt to dodge but he catches you. Vestix lifts you into the air with one hand and slams you into a pillar hard. You leave a big fracture in the stone column as Vestix lifts you again and throws you across the room. You hit the altar and tumble into the wall, coughing up a small amount of blood as you come to a rest. Shit, what now? How are you supposed to beat this thing? You struggle to your feet and Vestix begins walking toward you. 

Breathing heavily, you weigh your options. Even with your sword, you don't stand much of a chance, but you know with his speed, escape is impossible. If fire didn't work then why not try electricity? You try using both your hands and a massive blast of purple electricity crashes into Vestix, lighting up the dark interior. 

He slowly continues moving forward, his skin smoking from the intense heat. It's slowing him down but that's all. It's still not enough. You're using up a lot of energy for this barrage but you don't know what else to do. You try to back away but Vestix is approaching faster than you can retreat. He lashes out and his claws cut deep into your left arm. You stagger backwards and Vestix closes in quickly, landing another hit which sends you flying into the pews. You are dizzy but you manage to stand just as Vestix jumps and lands next to you, crushing the wooden bench beneath him. 

You try to use magic, but the demon grabs your helmet and lifts you into the air. You feel like your neck is going to break and as you struggle, but you slip out of the helmet and fall down. Vestix crushes your helmet before letting it fall onto the floor. You get back to your knees and raise your hand slowly. The demon grabs you by the neck and lifts you up again, but you quickly jam your thumb into his eye. Your thumb thrashes around in the demon's skull, thoroughly destroying his eye. Vestix roars and throws you across the room again, although with less force this time. 

You land in the middle of the room and you look over and see your sword lying a few feet away. Vestix thrashes around violently until he sees you, and then charges in like a wild animal. You grab your sword and swing hard as you turn around and bury your blade into the demon's arm. You quickly withdraw your sword and Vestix jumps back, putting distance between you. He snarls angrily at you and you know this will be the last clash. You don't have much energy left after being knocked around so much, since you've been trying to heal your wounds little by little between thrashings. 

You put the remaining energy in your left hand and form a sphere of ice. Vestix howls and rushes toward you. You run towards the demon and throw your sword as hard as you can. It just barely misses him, embedding itself into the stone floor tiles, as he dodges to the side, but that's exactly what you wanted him to do. As Vestix turns and tries to stop his momentum, you leap between him and your sword. With one motion, you grab the demon, smashing your ice magic into his face with one hand while the other grabs your sword. The demon is quickly entombed in a crystal clear prison of ice and you raise your sword with both hands and strike down with all your might. The ice shatters as well as the demon and you slump back against the wall. 

"Shit." You say to yourself, breathing heavily, "That was close, and that was only one." 

You look around again now that it's safe and notice it's darker than it should be. Hanging around here isn't a good idea, Iliya or some other demon might come back and you don't want to be caught off guard. You make your way to the old wooden doors and push them open. It is daytime still, but high up, a thick black smoke covers the air, blocking out the sun. Nothing in the area is familiar, the cathedral stands alone in a barren wasteland. Even the waves crashing against the shore behind the cathedral look dingy and grayish. 

"How the hell did I get here, and where are Priscilla and the others?" You think aloud as you begin walking. 

There are monsters here but not like the others you've seen. These ones are bestial and evil looking, more like the ones from movies back home. You make your way a good distance into the wasteland, moving from cover to cover, trying to avoid drawing attention to yourself. You can barely make out the cathedral in the distance now, but nothing else. You don't know which way to go and as you are peeking around a corner, a monster sees you and rushes in. 

It moves like a wolf, and you wait until it pounces into the air before slicing it from cheek to tail. Luckily, it seems the other monsters didn't hear the commotion and you move on. After what seems like hours, you sit down against a rock. It's getting dark now and with the smoke, the moonlight can't reach the ground, making it very hard to see. You are tired, especially after that fight, but there's no way you can sleep in this place. You take a few more minutes to rest and then keep moving through the darkness. Eventually, you come to a beach, but there is only sand around the water's edge. The rest of the land looks the same as where you came from, like it has dried up and might crumble at any time.

Damn, if this beach connects back to the cathedral, that means this is probably an island, and the only island you've heard of is the one inhabited by demons. Iliya probably brought you here thinking even if you beat Vestix, you would die trying to escape. It's not like you can swim with all this armor on, and you're not stupid enough to take it off and try. You decide to follow the beach and after a while, things finally begin to brighten up. 

"Guess it's morning already." You mutter as you continue on. 

Up ahead, you see a cluster of large rocks and climb up for a better view. The smoke overhead billows out from a single point, and in the distance, you can barely make out what looks like a smoke stack. That must be the factory. You wonder what the demons are doing with a facility like that and then you notice something. Between the factory and the beach there appears to be a massive crater. It must be from the meteor. You decide to check out the crater and climb down from the rocks. 

After making your way to the crater and climbing up the side, you gaze down and see the crater is very deep and at the bottom, there is a huge crack in the ground. You are a bit disappointed nothing is here but as you turn to leave, you catch a glimpse of a small white light coming from deep inside the crevasse. It disappears just as you look for it, but you are sure you saw it, so you hop over the edge and slide down into the crater. You come to a stop just before the edge and peer into the abyss. Deep inside the darkness, you can see a woman bound in chains. After focusing, you can see a bit better in the darkness and notice that there appears to be some kind of stone structure around the woman. 

You see a way down and proceed carefully. At the bottom, you can see the woman more clearly now and even in the darkness, her golden hair seems to shine. The woman is blindfolded and gagged, her arms and legs outstretched by heavy chains. It looks like she was wearing an elegant white dress with flowers at the hip, but it is now ripped and barely hangs off her wrists, exposing her completely. On a nearby table, there are rusty tools with dried blood on them next to a few knives. What the hell were the demons doing to this woman? You don't see any injuries on her but you doubt the demons brought her here just to confine her. Her hair is different and her breasts are much larger. This isn't Gwen, but then, who is it? You remove the woman's gag and as you take off the blindfold, your eyes meet hers. 

Suddenly, you hear Mara's voice in your head saying, "My child, you have come at last." 

This is Mara!? This is where she's been all this time? 

"Come closer, there is not much time." Mara says and you come face to face with the goddess. "There is no time to explain, you must kiss me, now hurry!" Mara commands. 

You are very confused by this, but if she is telling you to do it, maybe you should? You lean in a bit and press your lips against Mara's. Immediately, she thrusts her tongue into your mouth and begins flailing it around wildly. You back away and as Mara pleads you to come back, you notice there is something on the back of her head. You circle around and are not prepared for what you see. Some kind of tube is attached to the base of Mara's skull and something black is being injected into her. It's not a liquid, more like a sludge, maybe this is the black slime that initially covered the island. 

The demons must be trying to corrupt Mara, that's the only explanation you can come up with. You decide to try to stop this somehow. The heavy chains are thick and would be very difficult to break, but the tube seems almost like hard plastic. From what you've heard you definitely don't want that stuff touching you or spilling onto the ground. The tube comes down from the ceiling and you can't see a way to stop the flow of slime from here. 

As you try to think, Mara's voice enters your mind again, "Champion, I am losing my power, I fear I do not have long in this condition. The corruption devours more of my light everyday. You must leave this place before they find you." 

"I'm going to get you out of here, I can't just run and leave you like this." You say still trying to find a way to free her. 

"Iliya approaches, she cannot find you here, you are not ready." Mara's voice echoes in your head.

Damn! You look around and doubt hiding in the darkness would be much help against a demon, but the only way out is back up the crater, where you would be in the open and surely get caught. 

You look back to Mara, whose blue eyes are glowing as she says, "I can send you back to the mainland, but in my weakened state, I do not know where you will end up." Mara says wearily. 

"Anywhere is better than here, and I promise, I will come back for you." You say, determined to put an end to Iliya's madness. 

Mara smiles and a bright white light envelops you. You can't see anything but you feel like you are moving very fast and then the white light disappears, leaving you mid air above a small farmhouse. You fall down, hit the roof and roll off onto the ground, crashing into a small stack of wooden crates. 

As you lay there in pain, a girl comes out of the house and says, "Oh my gosh what happened! Hey, I know you, you were with Priscilla." 

You open your eyes and see Selene, the puppy girl waitress standing over you. "You're that waitress, then, I'm in Cyldell right now?" You ask the girl, who is just as confused as you. 

"Um, yeah this is my house, I live right outside Cyldell. I thought you left with Priscilla a while back, where is she?" Selene asks in confusion.

You rub your head and say, "It's a long story." 

Selene smiles and says, "Well why don't we go inside, you look like you could use a drink." 

You thank her as she helps you to your feet and leads you inside her home. 

"Here you go. Cheers" Selene says, handing you a mug with strong smelling alcohol in it and taps them together. 

You can finally relax after almost two days with no sleep. You wearily tell Selene how you ended up falling onto her roof. You aren't sure when, but you fall asleep still sitting at Selene's table.


	23. Projection

You awaken feeling very weak. It seems your wounds have almost completely healed and your stomach no longer feels uneasy. You don't see Selene anywhere but you notice there is a note on the table. 

It reads, 'I had an early shift today but don't worry, you can stay as long as you'd like. There's some food in the fridge if you're hungry. I'll be back later, if you're still around I'd like to talk. -Selene' 

Food. That's right, you haven't eaten since you were sent to the island, no wonder you feel so weak. You open the fridge and are delighted to see it is nearly full, so you choose some kind of meat and cook it in a large pan on Selene's stove. You don't know what kind of animal this meat came from but right now it doesn't matter, it tastes delicious and you finish nearly all of it. 

You sit back in the chair and think about your situation. Priscilla and Kira are presumably still in Ardent City, unless they started making their way back to Valen already. Either way, from Cyldell it is a long journey back to Valen City. You suppose that is where you should be headed, although you don't know for sure your comrades are coming at all. Maybe they are searching the desert for you? Damn, you need to contact them somehow. You calm yourself and try to think back to your meeting with Iliya. She said she was the one who attacked the Elysium, meaning she has been watching you for quite some time, presumably since you arrived in Thanos. 

You want to stay and thank Selene for her hospitality, but you don't want to get her involved with Iliya or the demons either. You decide to leave before Selene returns, so you write a quick thank you note and leave it on the table. You gather your things and step outside. If there is any way to get in touch with your friends, maybe someone in Cyldell can help, it is the city of magic after all. You walk through the front gate to the city and go to the market. After asking around a bit, no one seems to be able to help you. You remember C.C. being quite adept at magic and wonder if anyone from this brothel could help you. It's a long shot, but you have no other ideas so you ask around and soon find the building. 

It doesn't look anywhere near as fancy as C.C.'s place, but you guess you shouldn't try to compare them, this is supposed to be the top business in the city, so plenty of people should pass through here. One of them has to be able to help you somehow. You enter the brothel and are greeted by chubby pig girl. She has pink skin and floppy ears as well as a corkscrew tail. 

"Welcome! I'm Kendra." She oinks, "Please have a seat anywhere, the Mistress will be with you shortly."

You don't have to wait long as a beautiful fox girl approaches you. She has bright blonde hair and several fluffy tails. Her long fox like ears are tipped with black fur, like her tails, and her pink eyes look at you with a hint of lust. 

"Welcome to my brothel, I am Mistress Alexandria, but please, just call me Alex. Now tell me, what can I do for you today?" 

The busty fox girl leans forward, causing her breasts to almost spill out of her red and white silk robe. 

"Actually, I was wondering if you or any of your girls knew magic?" You reply. 

"Oh is that what you like? Well, as it happens, there are a few girls here that can make all your dreams come true." Alex says with a wink. 

You shake your head and say, "No that's, I didn't come here for that. I was separated from my friends, I wanted to know if there was anyone who could help me contact them." 

Alexandria looks confused and says, "Do you know where they are?" You tell her they are in Ardent City and she looks even more confused now. "If you came here all the way from Ardent City, what makes you think your friends are still there?" She asks. 

"It's a long and confusing story, but I ended up here and I know they're still in Ardent City. I need to let them know I'm alright and meet up with them." You explain. 

Alex puts her hand to her chin and thinks for a moment before saying, "There might be a way, but it's unreliable." 

You aren't sure what she means but you say, "Please, anything will help at this point, I can give you whatever arens I have left." 

Alex smiles and says, "We charge our customers for sex. Helping people is always free. You just wait here I want you to meet someone, well, two people actually." 

With that, Alex walks back upstairs and leaves your sight. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all, even if your can just let them know you're alive, you can tell them to meet you somewhere and get things back on track. 

A few minutes later, Alex comes back downstairs and says, "They won't be in for about another hour, maybe you should grab a drink in the meantime?" 

You shake your head and say, "I think I'll check the shops, I'll be back in a little bit." 

Alex nods and says, "Alright then, see you soon." 

As you step outside and approach the plaza leading to the market, someone throws their arm around your shoulders and says, "I hope you weren't planning on leaving without saying hello." 

You turn around and see Farah smiling and you both laugh. 

"Farah, it's good to see you up and around again. How are you?" You say a little surprised to see her. 

"Great! I just got my new ship delivered today! Wanna check it out?" She says nudging you with her elbow. 

She's got a new ship already? Maybe you could meet up with Priscilla and Kira sooner? 

"Yeah let's go." You say and follow Farah to the docks. There she is, Elysium was supposed to be some kind of utopia, but it burned away. And out of the ashes came this baby!" 

Farah says excitedly as you read the letters emblazoned on the side of the ship. 

"Ashstep?" You ask confused. 

"Yeah, she's twice as nimble as the Elysium and because all that's gonna be left of those fuckin demons is ash after we're through with them." Farah says with a malicious look on her face. Changing her tone, Farah says, "So how 'bout it? Want a lift?" 

You nod and as you follow Farah onto the deck you ask, "So you're going to fight the demons now?" 

She stops and laughs before saying, "I'm still really pissed about my ship, so I thought as compensation, I'd destroy their little anti air defenses. A brand new trade route all to myself out to be enough I think. And with you here, we can really give 'em hell!" 

You explain to Farah that you are trying to contact your friends and she says, "Is that even possible? It's so far." 

You nod and say, "There might be a way, I have to meet with someone who may be able to help." 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go find out and then we can take off!" Farah says excitedly. 

You nod and thank Farah for her generosity before making your way back to the brothel. 

"There you are Mika." Alex greets you with a smile as she stands atop the grand staircase and motions for you to follow her. "Come up here, I think it would be best if we had some privacy." 

You follow her upstairs and into a room where two cat girls are sitting on the bed. 

"The dark haired one is Shiori and this is her twin sister Seori. They have a special kind of link between them and I think they might be able to help you." Alex says.

You look over at the cat girls and see that they look completely different. Shiori has dark black hair and her skin is tanned. She has piercing green eyes and sits confidently on the edge of the bed looking back at you and flicking her long black tail around. Seori on the other hand, seems more timid and reserved. Her light blonde hair and beautiful yellow eyes compliment her pale silky skin. She sits with her legs tucked up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. 

"What kind of magic can they use?" You ask Alex. 

"Hey I'm right here you know? Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Shiori says annoyed. 

"Enough Shiori, can you just explain it to her?" Alex says folding her arms beneath her breasts. 

"Ugh, fine. Seori and I can communicate telepathically. We can also project our telepathy so that other people can hear it, but there's a catch. We have to know the person, at least a little. When we talk with people and share experiences with them, we grow accustomed to their unique magical frequency and then we can send our thoughts to them directly, but it has a pretty short range." Shiori explains.

You think for a moment and say, "What kind of range are you talking about?" 

Shiori thinks about it and says, "If we split up, we can increase our range, but we would still have to be close enough to each other to maintain our link. At most, I would say we could cover an area about half the size of Cyldell." 

That is nowhere near large enough to reach halfway around the world to Ardent City. Wait, what if you amplified their powers like you did with Priscilla's shield on the Elysium? That might work, but they said they had to know them as well. Kira saw the city for the first time with you, so no one would know her, but Priscilla lived here, surely they must have ran into each other at some point. 

"Do you know Priscilla?" You ask. 

"You mean that drunken lizard girl, no, she seemed like trouble and never really came around here." Shiori says shaking her head. 

What now? You rack your brain trying to come up with something when you are interrupted by Seori.  
"Umm... I know Priscilla." She says meekly. 

She's been so quiet you almost forgot she was there. 

"How do you know that alcoholic!?" Shiori yells. 

Seori cowers and says, "Mistress has me go to the bar sometimes to pick up more alcohol. I met her there once and while I was waiting for the bartender, we talked for a bit. She's really nice Shiori, you shouldn't talk bad about her." 

Shiori looks mad but says, "Fine, I guess we can help you. So where is Priscilla anyways, why can't you just go find her yourself?" 

"She's in Ardent City." you reply to a surprised Shiori. 

"What? Didn't you hear me? We can't project that far stupid!" Shiori retorts.

"Shiori! How dare you insult our guest!" Alex is visibly upset but you put your hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, I haven't shown her my magic yet so she has a right to be skeptical." You say confidently.Alex looks like she still wants to say something but you continue, "The airship Priscilla and I were on came under attack. Priscilla managed to generate a shield but it didn't cover the entire ship. Using my magic, I was able to amplify Priscilla's powers and that's how we survived the crash. I can do the same for you two, I'm not sure if it will be enough to reach Ardent City, but please let me try." 

Alex looks surprised and says, "I heard about that! Farah and her crew looked pretty beat up when they finally got back. So you were on board during that incident?" 

"Yeah, although not everyone made it." You say remembering all the bodies strewn about after the crash. 

"Shiori, let's help her." Seori says looking a bit more confident. 

"Alright, alright, we can try." Shiori reluctantly agrees.

"Thank you, both of you I really appreciate this." You say. 

"Ice cream." Shiori says with her hands on her hips. 

"What?" you say confused. 

"You can pay us in ice cream, nothing's free you know." Shiori says with a serious look.

Alex looks mad again but you laugh and agree to her terms. 

"So what then, how does it work?" Shiori says. 

"Well last time, Priscilla was using her magic to her full extent, so try to project as far as you can." You say hoping you can do this again.

Shiori and Seori nod simultaneously and close their eyes. They open them a moment later and both their eyes are now glowing a bright blue color. 

"Ok, this is as far as we can go." Shiori says. 

"Alright just hold it like that and you should start to feel your reach extending." You say as you put a hand on each of the girls shoulders. 

You concentrate and focus on their frequencies but balancing three of them at the same time is difficult. You pinpoint Seori's frequency first and a few moments later you have Shiori's as well. You begin letting your energy flow into them and they immediately react. 

"Whoa! No way! Seori, are you seeing this?" Shiori says excitedly.

Seori responds, "Yeah! It's like we're flying over the world, we can see everything!" 

Alex sees you are struggling to concentrate and says, "You can talk later, find Ardent City." 

The twin cat girls close their eyes and in a moment, they find it. 

"There! It's Ardent City! We gotta find Priscilla." Seori says. 

"I know that! Hey, what are those things?" Shiori says. 

"Demons! Shiori, demons are attacking the city!" Seori cries.

Shiori says, "They can't even see us Seori, just find Priscilla!" 

You begin to feel light headed and don't know how much longer you can keep this up. 

"Look Shiori! Someone's fighting the demons, it's another demon!" Seori says.

You reply, "That's Astrid! Priscilla was with her the last time I saw her." 

You struggle to talk and not break your concentration. 

Seori smiles and says, "There she is! Priscilla is fighting the demons too!" 

"Alright, I'm here, with this much power, you can probably speak to her yourself." Shiori says. 

You call out Priscilla's name and you hear her answer, "Mika? Mika! Where are you!?" She yells. 

"I'm in Cyldell, there's no time to explain, I'm alright and I'm coming back to you." You say desperately trying to maintain the connection. 

"Give us some time to clean up here and ugh..." You hear a slashing noise and Priscilla continues, "We'll meet up at the brothel later." 

You break the connection and stumble back onto the floor exhausted. 

"That was incredible! I never thought we could reach that far with our powers Shiori!" Seori says bouncing on the bed excitedly. 

"Yeah, what a trip. Hey are you alright?" Shiori says looking at you. 

"Yeah, just used up a lot of energy that's all." You say relieved that it worked, but Priscilla and Kira are fighting the demons right now. You wish you could be there and help them, but you will just have to believe in them for now. 

"Well I'm glad we were able to help Mika, what will you do now?" Alex asks curiously. 

"I met up with Farah and she said she would take me back." You reply. 

"Well our doors are always open to you Mika, I wish you luck." Alex says with a smile. 

You thank Shiori and Seori and promise to return with ice cream for the girls before leaving. You quickly head back to the docks and ride the lift up to the top platform. Farah watches curiously as you rush to the Ashstep. Once on deck, you tell Farah what is happening right now in Ardent City and she looks excited.

"Perfect! Hopefully we can get there before the fighting ends, it will make a good distraction while we approach." Farah says leading you to the bridge.

When you remind Farah how far it is to Ardent City she smirks and says, "You didn't think I'd go and lose my title of fastest ship on the continent did you?" Farah laughs and says, "Buckle up Mika! We're gonna be there before you know it!" 

You laugh at her grandiose pose and head inside. The bridge is completely different than the Elysium's, Heavy looking seats with seat belts line the front consoles near the window and more are set up to either side of a seat in the middle of the room with small consoles on the armrests. Farah takes the center seat and presses a button. 

Her voice can be heard over the intercom, "This is your captain speaking listen up! We have a special guest on board and she's gonna help us kick some demon ass, so prepare for take off!" 

She waves you over to a seat on the right side of her and you take a seat. Crewmen pour into the bridge and begin taking their positions.

Farah says, "I wasn't joking when I said buckle up Mika, wouldn't want you to fly out that seat and ruin that pretty face of yours." 

You take her advice and fasten your seat belt as one of her men says, "Captain! Pre flight checks complete, we're ready to go!" 

"Right, our destination is Ardent City! Set the drop coordinates to just outside the city, let's get right on top of them before we strike." 

Another crewman yells, "Coordinates confirmed!" 

Farah smiles and says, "Then let's go! As soon as we're clear of Cyldell, engage the magicore engines!"  
The ship lift off and begins it's ascent. After a few moments, the ship is high above Cyldell.

Farah yells, "Full speed ahead!" 

The ship roars to life and begins racing through the sky. It's moving very fast but you don't see the need for the seat belts, it feels the same as when you were riding the Elysium. 

Farah looks to you and smiles before saying, "Now! Activate magicore engines!" 

The entire ship vibrates and then you are sucked back against your seat as the terrain below and the sky above become a blurry mess of color. 

"Sure beats walking, huh?" Farah laughs, seemingly unaffected by the massive amount of g force the ship is experiencing. 

A few minutes seems like an eternity but eventually Farah looks at her console and says, "We're almost there, everyone ready? This is gonna get intense! As soon as we cut the engines, target the closest A.A. gun and fire main cannons. Then we're gonna drop down and let Mika off, she'd probably be more help to the people on the ground. Next, we use our maneuverability and take out the rest of the guns one by one. Got that?" 

The crew responds with a unanimous, "Yes Ma'am!" 

You ready yourself for another fierce battle as the Ashstep suddenly stops directly over Ardent City.


	24. Raid

"Fire!" Farah yells, pointing towards the city. 

Twin blasts of green energy shoot out from either side of the ship and one of the massive cannons is hit, crumbling to the ground. 

"Direct hit! Target one is down!" A crewman reports. 

"Good, now bring us down!" Farah looks to you and says, "Go get 'em." 

You smile and release your seat belt and run towards and deck. The ship gets very close to the ground, although from the deck, it is still about twenty feet down. You concentrate and redirect your energy to your legs. 

"I hope this works!" You yell as you jump off the deck and fall down to the ground. 

You land safely, as if you barely jumped at all. Relieved your split second decision didn't end badly, you survey your surroundings as the Ashstep takes off. Demons are raiding the town and killing indiscriminately. You don't see Priscilla or the others but you can't just leave these people to die. 

Drawing your sword you run towards a nearby demon and pierce it's chest. It howls and knocks you back, but you held onto your blade and are already preparing another strike. It swipes its claws at you and you swing down hard, cutting the demon's arm off at the elbow. You don't want to give it another chance, so as it staggers in pain, you leap forward and land a powerful blow against its neck. The demons head flies off and lands on the ground while it's body seems to walk on its own for a second before collapsing. 

A bloody centaur girl with tears in her eyes says, "Thank you, thank you so much!" 

You help her stand and say, "Are you alright? Can you make it out of here?" 

She nods and says, "Yes I think so, but there are so many people left in the city..." 

"Don't worry about them, I'm not alone. We're going to save as many people as we can, so get going!" You yell and the girl gallops off. 

You see another demon kill someone and rush over, but as you get close, several more demons come out of the nearby houses. They roar and charge you all at once. You counter the first attack and kick him away as you block the next. You have an idea but there isn't time to think, it's now or never. You try to focus on your own frequency and charge your energy before releasing it all around you. A massive bolt of lighting crashes down on you and while it isn't killing you, it hurts, a lot. 

The energy dissipates and you take a knee, trying to stop yourself from shaking. The demons seem to be dead, but still, maybe that wasn't a great idea. You take a deep breath and stand up over the smoldering corpses of your assailants, when you hear a scream. You turn to look and see a cow girl running but then she trips and falls. You run to her but then you see a familiar looking demon. He easily catches the woman and rips her in half. You stare at him in disbelief, it's Vestix. But how? Did he really not die in the cathedral? He's got the same broken horn, it must be him, you think as you take cover behind a nearby building. 

He hasn't seen you yet and you try to get closer, moving behind buildings and rubble to stay out of sight. Vestix breaks a large hole in the front of a house and the occupants scream for help. You run at full speed and jump into the air, driving your blade straight down into Vestix's skull. He falls to his knees but knocks you off of him. He grabs the blade and pulls it free, releasing a torrent of blood and although he looks like he's going to get up, he falls backward. You get up and carefully make your way to your sword near Vestix. As you lean down and grab it, you notice Vestix's wound seems to be healing. Suddenly, his eyes snap open and stare at you with rage. He grabs your leg and you slice his wrist, but it only goes about halfway in. Before he can react, you discharge electricity from your sword and cut all the way through his arm, and take a few steps back. 

He seems unaffected by losing his hand, and again charges at you. With only one claw left, his attacks are a little easier to read and you can block them with relative ease. Vestix suddenly raises his mutilated arm and a new hand shoots out from the wound. He roars and continues his assault leaving no room for error. You manage to cut him deeply in the chest, but you are wide open and Vestix grabs you. The hulking demon raises you up and slams you into the ground again and again. After the fifth or sixth time you lose your grip on your sword and it falls the the ground. Vestix lifts you up again and throws you into a building. 

You crash through the wall and slam into a bookcase, which falls on top of you. Luckily, it's not very heavy and you get to your feet just as Vestix approaches. He charges at you and you dive out of a window back onto the street. You make a break for your sword, but Vestix has the advantage when it comes to speed, and he forces you to stop midway as he bursts through the wall and lands between you and your sword. You devise a risky strategy and when Vestix charges you again you do the same. You throw fire at the ground between you and Vestix producing a barrier of smoke. You quickly pour energy into your legs again and jump high into the air. Vestix continues clawing his way through the smoke, and as you pass overhead, you unleash a volley of electricity at him before landing closer to your sword. You immediately run for your sword and when you reach it, Vestix jumps towards you. 

You prepare for a counterattack when all of a sudden, a black fire screams across the air and hits Vestix, knocking him into a building that is set ablaze by the black flames. Vestix roars as the flames consume him and he begins melting. His flesh drips off him as he tries to stand. The demon takes a few steps forward, leaving pieces of burning flesh in his wake, before collapsing on the floor. 

"Told ya it burns pretty hot, huh?" C.C. says gliding over to you. 

"C.C.! You're alright, where are the others?" You say in relief.

C.C. flexes her bicep and says, "I told you, I can take care of myself, and everybody else is ok too! Come on, I'll take you to them!" 

You nod and follow C.C. through the battlefield to her brothel. 

"Everyone's inside." C.C. says as she opens the doors. 

"Mika!" Kira says as she flies over and hugs your face. "I was so worried, you just disappeared!" 

You peel the fairy away from your face so you can speak, "It was Iliya. She sent me to the island." 

Astrid comes up and says, "Are you sure it was her?" 

You nod and respond, "Yeah, I saw her and then she made me fight one of her assassins. I learned I was on the island and then I found Mara." 

"Mara!? Where is she?" Priscilla asks. 

"She was at the bottom of a huge crater, she was chained and they were, it looked like they were injecting black slime into her." You reply. 

"By the gods! The demons are corrupting Mara!?" Priscilla says trying to grasp their intentions. 

"That's what I thought too, I was going to free her, but she said Iliya was coming and then she transported me to Cyldell. I met two girls there that could speak telepathically, and I boosted their power so I could contact you." You explain. 

"If you were in Cyldell how the hell did you get here so fast?" Astrid remarks. 

"I ran into Farah, she's got a new ship, and right now, they're destroying the anti air defenses around the city." You say.

Astrid looks surprised and says, "Is that what those explosions were? Well what the hell are we waiting for? Let's drive these bastards back to where they came from!" 

Astrid kicks open the front door and rushes out. 

Priscilla walks over and says, "It's good to have you back, we'd better give her a hand." 

She smiles and then follows Astrid outside. C.C. and Kira also fly outside and you follow them preparing for another fight. As you run through the streets, Farah's ship continues to blast the massive cannons stationed around the city. The city's defenses are having trouble keeping up with the Ashstep and it seems like they were meant to keep ships at a distance rather than engage one within its limits. 

Your group soon comes to a plaza crawling with demons and comes to a halt. 

C.C. glides towards the mob and says, "Leave these ones to me. All this fighting has me hot and bothered. I'll catch up later." 

You are about to ask if she can handle this many enemies on her own when the demons begin dropping their weapons. C.C. glides over to them and they swarm around her as she smiles and takes one of their cocks into her mouth. You guess she will be alright and you continue towards the city center. 

"The demons are coming through that portal, if we can stall them long enough, I can close it." Priscilla says as you approach a glowing light in the center of town. 

"We got your back, just close that thing as fast as you can!" You yell as you all come to a stop and surround the portal. 

Priscilla starts chanting and demons approach from all sides. Astrid leaps out and begins fighting on her own and you take the opposite side to fend off the demons there while Kira deals with any that slip by. 

"Mika! Something big is coming through the gate, I don't think I can close it in time." Priscilla yells over the sounds of battle.

You cut a demon in half and yell, "Just keep trying!" 

Another leaps in and you block its jaws with your blade while Astrid is sending the demons flying as she hits them with vicious force. You break the deadlock and slice through the demon's head just as a massive demon emerges form the portal. It is easily the size of a large building and it stands on all fours. Four jagged horns protrude from its skull, and it has a large scar over it's right eye. This has to be the demon that Hakon fought all those years ago, the description fits perfectly. 

Priscilla blasts green energy into the portal and it explodes. The giant beast lets out a deafening roar and swipes it's tail at Priscilla, throwing her towards you. 

You catch her and ask, "You alright?" 

She nods and says, "Yes I'm fine, but we need to do something about the big one before it destroys the entire city." 

You look up at the behemoth and say, "I think I have a plan, but I need a distraction." 

Priscilla smiles and says, "Leave it to me." 

You focus and put energy into your legs and jump up to the roof of a nearby house. From up here you can see Farah's ship, and you jump from rooftop to rooftop at blinding speed. When you get closer, you put even more energy in your legs and jump all the way up onto the deck to the Ashstep. 

You race to the bridge and say, "Farah I need you to shoot that huge monster down there." 

"How the hell did you... whatever, you heard her! Get this ship moving!" Farah commands and the ship begins moving. 

"Wait until everyone is clear then give him everything you have." You say before rushing back to the deck. 

You see Astrid and Priscilla using their bestial strength to throw large pieces of debris at the monster. You charge your blade full of energy until it is brightly shining in your hand and raise it up high. Priscilla and Astrid see your signal and begin retreating. 

"Now Farah!" You yell and the Ashstep begins to shake. 

Twin beams of destruction blast into the beast and leave massive gaping holes in its flesh, but it is still alive. You imbue electricity into your sword and it crackles violently with the amount of energy inside it. You leap off the deck and just as you reach the beast, you slice down and release all the energy in your sword at the same time. 

The slash creates a stunning arc of pure energy and it easily slices through the neck of the behemoth and even the building behind it before dissipating. You land just as the beast's body collapses to the ground and you look around. The other demons look shocked that you just defeated that monster so easily and you decide to use this to your advantage. 

You yell, "Don't let any escape! Let's show Iliya what happens when she picks a fight with us!" 

Your comrades and even some of the townsfolk cheer and within an hour, the rest of the demons have fled or been killed. 

"Is that all of them?" Kira asks. 

"I believe so, that was quite an impressive display Mika, and you too Farah." Priscilla says while catching her breath. 

"Well don't thank me, I was gonna come over here and raise some hell anyway." Farah laughs. 

Astrid walks over to you and says, "I had no idea you could control magic so perfectly, you took that thing down in one hit!" 

You look back at her and say, "Neither did I." 

Astrid looks taken back for a second and then laughs heartily. "Well either way, that was something. I feel like you just might be able to beat Iliya, aww what the hell, I'm not doing anything important anyways, I guess I'll go with you. I wasn't sure at first but after seeing that, I'd be a fool not to see what else you can do. Sounds like it's gonna be exciting from now on." Astrid pats you on the back as she laughs and you can't help but join her. 

"Ok then, let's help put out the fires and then we'll meet back here and I'll cook up something special!" C.C. says. 

The townspeople were already trying to extinguish the fires so it doesn't take long before you are sitting down to eat with everyone. 

"C.C. you've outdone yourself with this." Priscilla says looking at the huge feast C.C. somehow prepared very quickly. 

"It's the least I can do, after all, you are the ones that protected this building. I would have nothing without my home, so thank you all." C.C. says with a warm smile.

Over the meal, you describe what you went through to get back here and Priscilla asks, "So there was no slime on the island?" 

You shake your head and say, "I didn't see any except what they were pumping into Mara." 

Priscilla says, "Hmm, and what about the island itself? Can you describe it?" 

"Dead. There were no trees or plants and even the ground looked like it had dried up." You respond, thinking about that desolate landscape. 

"I see, the meteor most likely killed the plant life, and the slime took the nutrients out of the ground, preventing them from growing again. We thought the demons were using it as a deterrent, to prevent us from gaining a foothold on the island, but maybe it had a different purpose all along." Priscilla says.

Priscilla seems deep in thought, so you ask Kira what happened after you vanished. 

"Well you were talking and then the next second, you were gone! There was a little bit of black smoke but we didn't know what happened to you. Astrid thought someone teleported you somewhere, but we didn't know where. We tried looking for you, but we decided it was better to stay close to the city in case you came back. Then after two days, we were about to head to Valen City to look for you when the demons attacked." Kira says looking sad. 

Then Farah slams her mug down while saying, "And then we kicked their sorry asses!" 

Astrid seems to find this funny as well, and laughs with Farah. After the meal, you ask Farah if you can have a ride back to Valen City. 

"Sure, it's on the way back to Cyldell so that's fine. There's a problem though, it's why I haven't left yet. The Ashstep runs solely on magicores, and using them to travel here that fast burned it up pretty quick. I thought ahead though and redirected a shipment of magicores here. They should have arrived already, but they ran into some trouble. They're alright but they have been delayed by a day or so. I'm kind of stuck here until then." Farah says ashamedly. 

"It's better than walking, thanks Farah, we'll wait until you're ready to go." You say.

C.C. adds, "The rooms upstairs on the left are all clean and you can sleep there tonight. I think I'm going to take a bath, good night ladies." 

As C.C. glides up the stairs, Priscilla says, "A bath does sound nice about now." 

Astrid looks over and says, "Those rooms are for VIP's and all have their own restroom." 

Priscilla looks up and says, "Really?" 

Then Kira asks, "Hey mind if I join you?" 

Priscilla asks why and Kira responds, "It's kind of a waste if I go alone." 

Priscilla agrees and they make their way upstairs. 

It's just you and Astrid now and she says, "I got to see how you handle magic earlier, but I'm curious, how good are you with that blade? Want to spar a little?" 

You feel up for it and from what you saw of her tonight, maybe you could learn a thing or two. 

"Sure, why not?" You say and lead Astrid outside. 

"You already impressed me with magic so let's just use swords." Astrid brings her hands together and black energy starts to form around them. She begins spreading her hands apart and in between them you can see a pitch black sword forming. Her left hand grabs the handle when it is fully formed and gives it a swing. It makes a pulsing sound as it cuts through the air. She smiles and says, "Ready?" 

You draw your sword and nod. Astrid begins walking to you calmly and then lashes out. You know she's holding back, but her attacks are quick and powerful. You can see them coming easy enough with your powers, but she isn't leaving much of an opening to counterattack. All you can really do is block each strike as it comes and slowly retreat. 

Astrid slices downward and you sidestep and hit her in the ribs with the hilt of your sword. She takes a step back then lunges at you with a wide sweeping slash. You use all your strength and return her attack. At the moment the two blades crash into each other, your sword breaks in half and Astrid's blade of energy comes to a stop inches from your throat. 

"Oh shit, sorry." She says releasing the energy as her blade dissipates. 

You look down at your cracked and broken sword and almost feel sad. This has saved your life more than once and now it's gone. 

Astrid says, "Don't worry, I know a blacksmith in town, he owes me a favor anyway. Maybe you should look at some new armor while we're there." 

You look down and realize that your armor looks mangled and even has a few cracks in it. Vestix really worked you over. 

You agree and say, "I wasn't able to ask you before but, why are you fighting the demons." 

Astrid looks at you and says, "Demons aren't all the same. Some of us couldn't care less about enslaving people or constantly doing evil things." 

You ask her if she knows Iliya and she says, "Yes. Iliya was the first to awaken here and soon after she claimed the island. She declared herself ruler and it did not go over well. She quieted the demons and said if anyone objects to raise their hand. Hundreds of demons proudly raised their hands in defiance of this woman, but she just smiled. She spun around quickly and blood sprayed everywhere. Every single hand that was raised had been severed. Even that monstrosity we fought earlier lost its arm. Most of their wounds were dissolving their flesh and they quickly died. Some of the stronger ones were allowed to regenerate only if they pledged their allegiance to her. I had no interest in her games, so I played along until I had a chance to leave. Iliya is extremely powerful, but she isn't without faults. She underestimates humans because you are so frail, which is probably why she left you with an assassin instead of killing you herself. You won't have that advantage anymore." 

"I know, I'm just glad I didn't have to face her alone." You say sighing in relief. 

"Let's go back in and get some rest for now." Astrid says walking back to the brothel. 

You follow her upstairs and choose a room. It's been a while since you had a bed all to yourself. After taking a long bath, you lie down on the soft mattress and easily fall asleep on the luxurious bed.


	25. The Amalgam

In the morning, you make your way downstairs and are greeted by C.C. 

"Morning! Sleep well?" She asks. 

"Yeah, the beds here are really comfortable." You reply as Priscilla and Kira walk downstairs and join you. 

"So what are we gonna do today?" Kira asks. 

You look around and see Astrid sitting in the lounge and say, "I need to have my sword repaired, and maybe get some new armor. Astrid said she knows someone." 

Kira frowns and says, "What about us?" 

You smile and say, "We can't leave until Farah's ship is ready anyways, just relax and have some fun while we have the chance." 

Kira smiles and Priscilla says, "Then Kira and I will have a look around the city, I've always been curious about how this place works." 

As you walk over to Astrid, you hear Kira complain, "That doesn't sound like fun at all!" 

Astrid is looking toward Kira and says, "You sure have some odd friends." 

You laugh and say, "I know, but I'm glad they're here." 

Astrid stands up and says, "Come on then, let's see what old Frost can do for us." 

Astrid leads you outside and past some of the destroyed buildings. 

"So Frost is the blacksmith?" You ask and Astrid laughs. 

"His real name is Haevar, which means 'fiery will' in elven, but he's kind of an asshole, so I just call him Frost to piss him off. We get along great, but I do like to make him mad." 

Astrid laughs again and you hope things will go smoothly as you come to an undamaged part of the city. 

"Good, seems like this district didn't take much damage last night. It's a good thing you showed up with that airship when you did." Astrid says making her way past the townspeople. 

You follow her and soon she stops in front of a building. There isn't a sign or anything that signifies this is a shop, but Astrid walks inside and as you enter, you see various swords hung on the walls. There are some things that look like they are on display, but this feels like it's someone's home, not a business. 

"He's probably upstairs, let's go." Astrid says making her way up a small staircase off to one side of the room. 

At the top of the stairs, it is noticeably hotter and you begin to sweat. 

"Frost you old bastard! How have you been?" Astrid says loudly. 

An old shirtless elven man turns away from the forge and says, "I thought I told you never to come back you demon bitch!" His voice is gruff and menacing, complimenting his appearance. He is quite muscular for his age and stands up, brandishing a knife. 

"Put that down, can't you see I've brought you a customer? Or maybe you'd like me to, remodel, your home for you?" Astrid says with a smile. 

Frost looks really pissed now and throws the knife into the floorboards before he says, "This is why all you fucking demons need to die!" The old man turns his back to you and sits at his forge again. "So what the hell do you want now?" He says angrily. 

You step forward and say, "Umm, sir, I heard you were an excellent blacksmith and I was hoping you could repair my sword." Frost looks to you and you hold out your broken blade for him to examine. 

He grabs the two halves and inspects them before saying, "Garbage, it's not worth my time to repair something like this." 

He drops your sword on the floor and Astrid leans down to him and says, "Then make her a new one, unless you don't need your fingers anymore." 

Astrid looks deadly serious and you can tell the old man is scared even though he says, "Why the hell would I help you?" 

Astrid points to you and says, "You're helping her, I've told you before, you're useless to me, so if you don't want to do it then I'll take your fingers and we'll find someone who will." 

Frost seems unsurprised at Astrid's callous nature and turns to you and says, "You'd better watch yourself, else the demon stink will rub off on you." 

Astrid cracks her knuckles and says, "Mika, go wait outside, I'll be there in a minute." 

"Astrid, that's enough." You say and Astrid seems irritated but you continue, "I don't have much money, but if I can help you out somehow..." 

You don't really know how to finish but Astrid interrupts, "This girl is going to fight the demons. Are you really going to let her go out with some piece of crap made by an amateur?" 

Frost looks at you and says, "Fine, on one condition. You have to kill this bitch too." 

He points to Astrid who is silently laughing behind Frost's back and you say, "Umm, ok?" 

Frost takes another look at your sword lying on the ground and says, "You want something different this time?" 

You shake your head and say, "No. I liked the way that one felt, I'd like another like that one if you could." 

Astrid chimes in and says, "My friend here is quite the sorceress, so make sure it can handle a lot of energy while you're at it." 

Frost looks irritated and says, "Oh, and I suppose you want it to make you fly too? Well I can't do it anyways, infused metal isn't easy to come by and the mine was taken over by monsters a few years ago. So unless you're planning on bringing me some, a normal sword is all you get." 

Frost crosses his arms but Astrid smirks and says, "Fine, where is it?" 

The old man looks shocked that she would help but says, "To the south. About half a day's walk and you'll see the mine, but I don't even know what kind of monsters are living there, all our scouts have been killed." 

"Aww, are you worried about me now?" Astrid says with a smile.

Frost replies, "I meant her! You can die out in the desert for all I care!" 

As they argue, you look around and notice that the armor Frost has lying around looks pretty basic compared to what you have and you wonder if it will hold up in a fight against demons. 

"Oh that's right, she needs some armor too." Astrid says.

Frost shakes his head and says, "No, what she needs is someone to enchant that armor. What she's wearing is made from infused metal, I can tell. If it can be repaired and enchanted, it would be far superior to anything that I could make." 

"And who's going to do that?" Astrid responds. 

Frost looks down and mumbles, "My sister." 

Astrid looks puzzled and says, "I didn't know you had a sister, I hope she has a better attitude than you." 

"She lives west of the city, in a cave. She has always been a bit, different, but when she discovered those potions, she lost her mind. She drank so many that eventually, she turned into something, awful. Every part of her body comes from a different animal but she didn't seem to mind at all. It was like a game to her, but some of the people here didn't like her antics and she was forced to leave the city." Frost says. 

"And you're sure your sister can fix my armor?" You ask.

Frost replies, "Well she is my sister. If anyone could do it, it's her." 

Astrid pats Frost on the back and says, "That wasn't so hard was it? You should learn to be a little more cooperative sometimes." 

Frost pushes her hand away and says, "Well what are you waiting for? I can't start forging the blade without the ore so get going already." As you and Astrid leave, you can hear Frost cursing at Astrid under his breath. 

"How long until your friend is ready to leave?" Astrid asks. 

"Farah said everything should be ready by tomorrow." You reply.

Astrid thinks for a moment before saying, "There probably won't be enough time to do both unless we split up. You need to take that armor to the enchantress, so I guess I'll get the ore." 

You look at Astrid and say, "Why don't you take Priscilla with you? She can help with the monsters."

Astrid folds her arms and says, "I can handle the monsters no problem, but an extra set of hands to carry the ore would be nice." 

The two of you return to the brothel and relay the plan to the others. 

"There shouldn't be much trouble where I'm going, but you two can come along if you want." You say.

Everyone agrees and makes their way to the front gate. Your group heads west and Astrid and Priscilla head south towards the mine. 

After a while, Priscilla and Astrid are out of sight and Kira says, "So this girl is an enchantress?"

You shrug and say, "I guess so, Frost said she would be able to fix my armor at the very least." 

"I had no idea Frost had a sister, I wonder why she would live way out here by herself though." C.C. comments.

You reply, "He also said she took too many potions. It had some kind of effect on her body." 

C.C. nods and says, "Yeah they're fun to play with, but you need to give yourself time to cool off before you go drinking another one, otherwise you could end up looking pretty weird." 

You agree and say, "I think that's what happened to her." 

C.C. shakes her head and says, "Poor thing, driven out of the city because she's different. Maybe I'll offer her a room at my place, if she wants it of course." 

Always thinking of her business, no wonder she makes so much money. Kira spots a few large rocks and the three of you take a short break with the rocks providing much needed shade. 

"How much farther?" Kira asks wiping the sweat from her forehead. 

"All Frost said was that she lived west of the city in a cave." You reply. 

After resting for a few more minutes, you stand up and say, "Let's get moving." 

Your group sets out again and after about an hour, you come to a tall cliff. At the base, there is an entrance and the three of you cautiously make your way into the cave. The cave has candles sitting on stones that stick out from the walls along some of it's passageways and most of it is lit fairly well. You follow the candles and soon come to a split. On the left, there is a door that has been made to fit the irregular shape of the tunnel, and it looks out of place. The right side continues on for a while, but you decide to check out the door first. 

"Looks like someone moved in, you think this is it?" C.C. asks. 

"Let's find out." You say as you knock on the door. 

You hear movement inside and a girl's voice says, "Who's there?" 

"My name is Mika, are you Haevar's sister?" You ask the girl through the door. 

"Haevar? How do you know him?" The voice responds. 

"I met him in Ardent City, he said that his sister could repair my armor." You say and a moment later, the door opens slightly. 

You open the door and the passageway turns into a room, and in the center you see the girl. You've seen a lot of things in this world that you wouldn't have believed before, but this is definitely the strangest. The girl has a normal looking face besides the long elven ears, but that's about the only normal thing on her. Her torso is covered in a gold and white fur that doesn't match the feathers on her arms, which are light blue. Her arms look scrawny, and you recognize them to be like a harpy's, but there are no wings coming out of them. Instead, the girl has two large red draconic looking wings on her back. The girl has cat like legs and to top it off, her breasts are massive. You stop staring before introducing your companions and you ask the girl again if she is Haevar's sister. 

"Yeah I'm Asleif, did he really not even tell you my name?" You shake your head and she continues, "Explains why he never comes around, he doesn't like what I've become, but I don't care, and it seems you aren't bothered by this either." 

You look at her and say, "I'm not from around here, so this is all new to me, but if you're comfortable with it then you shouldn't be forced to live way out here." 

Asleif laughs and says, "No one has ever forced me to do anything. I came out here because I was tired of everyone staring, and having to beat up the people that made fun of me. I don't need anyone, I'm doing fine out here on my own." 

You feel kind of bad for her but she doesn't seem sad about it at all. 

"So what, my no good brother sent you out here because he can't make a decent suit of armor?" Asleif says shaking her head. 

"Actually he said that you might be able to enchant it." You reply, taking off one of your wrist guards to let her examine it. 

"Oh I see, Haevar never was good with magic. Ok then, strip!" Asleif says with a smile. 

You take off all of your armor and hand the pieces to Asleif, who looks more than a little disappointed that you were wearing underwear. She sighs and begins going over each piece of armor thoroughly. You and C.C. sit on a bench against a wall and Kira floats around the room investigating the space. 

Asleif looks back and says, "It shouldn't take long to repair it, but the enchantment will take a while." 

You explain that you are in a hurry and Asleif says, "Hmm, I suppose if I work all night, I could have it ready by morning, but you would have to do me a favor." 

"Yeah sure, what did you have in mind?" You say gratefully. 

"Oh I don't know, let me think about it and I'll tell you in the morning." Asleif says as she collects your armor and places it on a workbench. 

She begins hammering away, stopping periodically to cast a spell or two, and then she continues. Minutes turn to hours as the idle chat between you, C.C., and Kira eventually dies out and you yawn. You get as comfortable as you can, sitting on the stone bench, and manage to get a little sleep. 

"Ha! Now that's something beautiful!" Asleif's voice wakes you some time later. 

She is standing beside your armor staring at it with her hands on her hips. You also notice your armor looks to be in pristine condition once again and it even seems to faintly glow. 

You get up and stretch before making your way to Asleif and say, "Wow, you did an excellent job." 

Asleif looks a bit startled and says, "Oh sorry, did I wake you? I just got excited seeing it all done and everything." She looks back and sees that C.C. and Kira are getting up as well. "Now then, as for my payment..." Asleif says to all three of you, "As you can see, I'm doing fine out here by myself. The only thing I don't have is, well... someone to get me off. So that's what you three are going to do, kay?" 

You had a feeling it was going to be something like this. 

"Oh? You want to play with me? Well, I couldn't refuse even if I tried, haha!" C.C. says. 

She undoes her skimpy top and lets it fall to the floor as she glides to Asleif and plants a kiss on her neck. 

"Hey, hey, no slacking! I worked hard on that enchantment, so you two better get over here too or I'm keeping it." Asleif says. 

You and Kira look at each other and shrug. At least it's not a fight to the death or something, but isn't she really old even though she doesn't look like it? Her brother sure was, but whatever, you need that armor. You undress and join C.C. as each of you take one of her nipples in your mouth. Asleif moans and runs her fingers through your hair. Kira transforms and kneels between Asleif's legs, and begins rubbing her soft fur, slowly making her way to her pussy. 

Asleif is breathing heavily and after a few minutes she says, "Why don't we take this to the bed? My legs feel like they're gonna give out." 

You and C.C. back away and Asleif sits on the edge of the bed. 

"Come here, Mika." Asleif says seductively and as you approach, she grabs you and lays you on the bed.

She tells Kira to get you hard and the fairy lays on the bed with her face hovering just above your cock. C.C. gets behind Kira and starts kissing her ass, while Asleif climbs on top of you, pushing her breasts into yours. Kira puts her mouth around your cock and you feel her tongue moving over the tip rapidly. You moan and the put your hands on either side of Asleif's face, pull her in, and begin kissing her passionately. 

The next several minutes are filled with moaning until Asleif says, "I can't wait anymore, just fuck me already!" 

She resumes kissing you and Kira takes your cock from her mouth and presses it against Asleif's pussy. You push a little and it slides right in. 

"Wow, you're really wet!" Kira says as each of your thrusts lets a little more of her juices out. Kira licks around Asleif's ass for a moment before inserting two of her fingers. 

"Ohhh." Asleif moans as you increase your tempo. "I- I'm gonna, cum!" Asleif yells as she clutches you and her whole body tenses up. 

You feel her juices flowing out around your cock and you let your orgasm crash over you. Your cock erupts inside Asleif and she moans in response. You and Asleif lay there for a moment until she lifts herself up. You think she's getting up, but instead, she turns around and sits back on top of you, facing away from you this time. She wiggles her ass as she grabs your cock and lines it up with her ass.

"I don't get chances like this very often, so I have to squeeze them for all they're worth, you know?" With that, she lowers herself onto your cock in one motion. "Ahhh, I forgot how good this feels." Asleif says as she pulls Kira up so she can kiss her. 

C.C. follows and buries her face in Asleif's pussy, still dripping with your cum. Asleif bounces on your cock, her massive breasts swaying while Kira tries to play with them and kiss her at the same time. C.C. giggles and tries to catch the cum that spurts out every time Asleif bottoms out on your cock. 

When there is hardly any left, the little succubus says, "I feel left out... Oh I know!" 

C.C. glides up and gets between Kira and Asleif. They let her in between them and start eating her out as she hovers above them. Kira's tongue darts in and out of C.C.'s ass while Asleif massages her clit with her tongue. You moan softly as Asleif fully lowers herself on you and begins grinding her hips into yours. Your hands move to her stomach and follow her movements while you gently rub her fur. 

"Yeah that's it, right there, don't stop!" C.C. yells as she clutches Asleif's head against her pussy.

"Mmm, you taste so good, is it because you're a succubus?" Asleif asks between slurping sounds. 

C.C. just smiles and lowers herself onto the bed beside Asleif and Kira. 

"I'm just naturally sweet, inside and out." C.C. says confidently as she starts rubbing both of their clits. 

Kira and Asleif both moan and Asleif stops riding you, but you pick up where she left off. Lost in the bliss, you absentmindedly thrust harder and harder until your hips clap loudly against Asleif's furry ass. 

"Ahh, ahh, ahh, I"m gonna.." Asleif says and you feel it too as you hug Asleif tightly from behind and you both reach orgasm. 

Your cock pumps Asleif's ass full of cum, somehow producing even more than the last time. Asleif rolls off of you and your cock slides out of her. 

"It's been so long, I forgot how much I like the feeling of hot cum inside me." Asleif says rubbing her belly. 

You catch your breath and Kira's transformation gives out with a small puff of smoke. You feel bad about wanting to leave already, but you can't afford to waste time, so you sit up and begin getting dressed. 

Asleif says, "Aww, leaving so soon?" 

You look back and say, "Sorry, but my ride leaves today and I can't miss it." 

C.C. and Kira get dressed as Asleif helps you into your armor. 

"I increased it's conductivity, so it should be easy to transfer energy into it and it will absorb a small portion of any spells that hit you. Also, I put my best defensive enchantment on it, even the demons are gonna have a hard time cracking this baby now! My magic can only do so much though, so don't go thinking you're invincible or anything." Asleif says proudly. 

You thank Asleif for all her hard work and she shrugs and says, "You did your part too, so don't mention it." 

C.C. smiles and says, "Are we ready to go then?" 

Your group makes its way to the door and as you exit Asleif says, "Feel free to come back if you're ever around again." 

It is still early in the morning and the sun is already baking the landscape. You're sweating, but not as much as the other times you've trekked across the desert, and you wonder if this is part of Asleif's magic. A while later, you make it to the rocks again, letting you know you're about half way back, and you decide to take a short break.


	26. The Corrupted Champion

You chat with Kira and C.C. for a while until you see Ardent City in the distance, with black smoke rising from behind the walls. 

"Oh no! What happened?" C.C. says concerned. 

"Maybe the demons came back." You say as you focus and awaken Mara's blessing. "I'm gonna go on ahead, we'll meet up at the brothel." You say as you direct your energy into your legs. 

"Alright, be careful. We'll catch up later." C.C. replies. 

You nod and begin running towards the city, steadily gaining momentum until you are moving at a blinding speed. You kick up a large dust cloud that gets even larger as you dig your feet into the sand, sliding to reduce your speed as you approach the walls. With one leap, you are over the wall and land on a street. The city looks just like it did the other night and you rush to engage the first demons you see. 

Among the demon soldiers, a few of them stick out. They are shorter and have black skin instead of red like the others. You see one of them is hunched over a centaur and recognize her as the girl you saved last time. You yell and rush them, trying to get their attention off of her, but as the smaller demon turns toward you, you see the girl's face. Most of her flesh looks like it has been dissolved, leaving only half a bloody skull attached to her shoulders, as toxic looking green slime drips from the small demon's mouth. 

A demon soldier swings his sword as another throws a fireball at you. You forgot that you don't have your sword right now and dodge to the side, barely avoiding both attacks. You clench your fists and let your energy flow into your armor, as the demons lunge at you. You raise your arm and block the first strike, grabbing the demon with your free hand and slamming him into the ground with such force that it cracks the stone street. The other demon hurls a fireball, but when it hits you, you don't even feel an impact. 

You quickly rise to your feet as the demon tries running back towards the others. You chase after him and when you're close, you unleash a volley of electricity. The demon flails uncontrollably until he bursts into flames and collapses. Two of the demons flee as you approach, but there are still three left standing in your way, including the smaller one. 

As they slowly encircle you, the demon on the left lunges at you, but you're ready and when it is close, you sidestep out of the way and grab the demon by the head as it lands. You twist hard until you feel it's neck snap and then swing the demon like a bat, knocking over the other one who was lunging towards you into some rubble. You are prepared to rush him, when out of the corner of your eye you see something green flying towards you. 

You leap backwards, the slime barely missing your chest, and it splashes onto the floor. Even the stone street starts to dissolve and it creates a small amount of smoke. You look towards the smaller demon and it hisses, dripping more of the slime onto the ground in front of the creature. If that stuff can melt through solid rock, you know you can't fight it in close proximity without being hit by it. Long range attacks are your only choice. 

As you wonder how to deal with the new threat, the other demon runs toward you bearing its claws. You focus your energy into your armor again and just as the demon is inches away from you, you release the energy and a shockwave erupts around you. It isn't very powerful because you didn't put much energy into it, but it causes the demon to stagger for long enough for you to close the gap and place your right hand over the demon's face. You discharge purple electricity into the demon until it stops screaming and limply twitches, then you release your grip and let the lifeless body fall to the floor. 

The spitting demon hisses as it rushes you and you immediately leap up on top of a building, trying to stay out of range from it's attack. The demon looks at you, then rears its head and spits acid at the base of the building, melting the entire side and causing it to collapse under its own weight. You manage to jump away as the building crumbles and land across the street from the creature. It rushes you, running on all fours, and spits again. You stomp hard and a chunk of the street bends upwards, blocking the acid, although it quickly begins to melt. 

The demon slides around the stone and lashes out at you with its claws. You block with one arm and ready ice magic in your other hand. The demon rears its head again just as your magic impacts it. The creature moves in slow motion as it is completely frozen over and you take a few steps back before releasing electricity into the ice. As you expected, the ice shatters and the demons blood sprays over a small area, melting the ground until its body falls into the slowly growing hole in the ground. You breath a sigh of relief but then you see a demon flying towards you. It passes a few feet in front of you and crashes into a building hard. You look in the direction it came from and see Astrid. 

"Finally." She says, "Took you long enough, come on, they're attacking the brothel, we need your help." As you and Astrid run through the streets, she says, "Oh yeah, here!" 

Astrid tosses you a sword and when you catch it, you feel it resonate with your magical frequency. You attach it to your hip and follow Astrid to the plaza in front of the brothel. Priscilla is fighting the demons by the front doors and Astrid takes the left side. You run to the right side of the building and a few demons rush follow close behind. 

You redirect your energy into your blade and put your hand on the handle. When the demons are in range, you draw your sword in a flash and cut cleanly through them all in one swing. Frost really did a great job on this new sword, as it is much easier to infuse with energy now. The demon horde continues its relentless assault, sending soldier after soldier to their deaths at the hands of you, Priscilla, and Astrid. Kira and C.C. eventually make it to the brothel and join in the fight. A few minutes later, the demons seem to stop attacking and begin grouping together in the center of the plaza. The ground begins to shake violently and cracks in the streets grow into large fissures. 

You see the stones erupt in the center of the demon horde and a hand reaches up from the depths. It pulls itself up and you get a good look at him. He is covered in white armor, similar to yours, although where the plates meet, you can see what looks like glowing magma. His eyes glow red under his helmet, which covers his entire face and the mouthpiece looks like a gaping maw of razor sharp teeth. The armor on his back and shoulders protrude out into spikes and in the center of his chest, there is a glowing red hole in the armor. Suddenly, a massive transparent image of Iliya appears over Ardent City. 

"You are becoming a nuisance, champion. I want to show you what happens to those that go against my will. This man was once like you, blessed by Mara herself, the first in fact. He struggled admirably, but now he is mine." You stare in disbelief at the fearsome man standing before you. He lets out a bestial roar and Iliya continues, "Did you think you were special? The only one? Even a goddess can be corrupted, her servants are no trouble at all. Now, bring me their heads!" 

The corrupted champion roars again and black energy swirls around him as the image of Iliya disappears.   
Priscilla gets close to you and says, "Be careful Mika, this one is much stronger than the others. We'll take care of the demons, you and Astrid deal with him." 

You and Astrid nod and walk towards the man, while the others rush in to fight the demons. Astrid creates a sword from her energy and you charge your blade with yours. The corrupted champion speeds toward you and you have trouble keeping up with his movements. You manage to block his first strike but it is so powerful, you are forced to take a knee under the immense pressure. Astrid lands a vicious blow against the man's head, but he doesn't even flinch. He looks towards Astrid and fire spews from beneath his helmet. Astrid leaps back to avoid the flames and you take this chance to tilt your sword and let his blade slide off of yours. You roll to the side and the man roars towards the sky. 

You and Astrid charge him from both sides and attack simultaneously, but the corrupted champion doesn't even try to dodge. Your sword lands against his neck and Astrid's against his chest, but his armor doesn't even chip. He lashes out and grabs both of you and throws Astrid into a building which collapses on top of her. He pulls you in close and you can partially see into his helmet. His skin looks bloody and ragged, almost like it is falling off of him and his glowing red eyes burn with hatred. 

You can see flames building up in his mouth and quickly charge ice magic in your hand. You release your magic directly into his mouth, but his fire seems to cancel out your ice. You punch the corrupted champion with all your might, but it is like hitting solid steel, and doesn't have much of an effect. Astrid frees herself from the rubble and rushes to your aid, grabbing the man's arms from behind and slowly prying them apart. 

"Now! While I've got him!" Astrid yells. 

You don't have time to think and plunge your blade into the man's chest, piercing Astrid as well. The man roars and slams his head back against Astrid's, causing her to let go and fall onto the ground. 

"Don't worry, this is nothing, perks of being a demon." Astrid says as she stands clutching her wound.

The corrupted champion's eyes change color and now the red glow is replaced with an eerie black smoke. He roars again and unleashes a massive amount of energy around himself, throwing you and Astrid to opposite sides of the street. You get to your feet just as he closes in on you. His hand has black energy swirling around it and as he enters striking distance, the energy instantly forms into a sword and it crashes into yours once again. He seems even stronger now and you are having a hard time maintaining the deadlock. You push back against his blade with everything you have, but he sidesteps and lets you stumble in front of him. His blade is moves faster than you can see and comes to rest in your left shoulder. He draws his blade quickly against your flesh and blood sprays from your wound as his sword withdraws from your armor.

Astrid, who seems to have healed somewhat, throws a large piece of debris at the corrupted champion, knocking him through a wall and giving you a chance to retreat to Astrid's side. The man quickly rises to his feet and knocks away some of the rubble blocking his path. 

"Remember the big one last time?" Astrid asks, "Just like that ok? I'll keep him busy until you're ready." 

Astrid meets the man in the middle of the street and begins trading blows with him as you close your eyes and focus. The sounds of Astrid and the man grunting in pain as they fight intensifies as you begin to sense fighting going on in other parts of the city as well. You open your eyes just in time to see the corrupted champion stab Astrid through the chest. He quickly withdraws his blade and slashes her a few more times before kicking her off to the side of the road. Astrid tumbles across the street and slams into some rubble, but she isn't getting back up, or moving at all. 

What have you done? You curse yourself for letting her fight this man alone and you feel something building up inside you. Regret and rage swirl around inside you as the corrupted champion roars and charges you. Suddenly, your energy becomes visible and surrounds you in an aura of white fire. You notice that the man's movements seem slower, but it's actually you that is perceiving time faster. His attacks are easier to avoid and you let your energy flow into your sword. This new sword seems to almost instantly absorb your energy and it glows with the same white fire that surrounds you. 

The corrupted champion tries to stab you, but you sidestep and slash down hard. His arm comes flying off but he just turns and keeps attacking. You look to Astrid again, who is still lying face down and motionless against the rubble, as you parry the man's attack and push him back. You are enraged and charge the corrupted champion, putting even more energy into your sword. He stands motionless until you drive your blade into his ribs, then he returns the favor by stabbing you in the gut. You wince in pain and drag your blade up, causing him to stagger backwards. He lets go of his blade and it dissipates, letting your blood flow freely onto the ground, but you aren't going to give him another chance. 

You swing your sword with blinding speed from all angles, releasing your energy with every strike. The energy arcs out past the blade and cuts through the corrupted champion's armor like it wasn't even there. Caught up in the frenzy, you viciously continue slashing the man until he is nothing more than a bloody torso. You snap back to reality and take a step back from the mutilated body. The black energy around his eyes dissipates and you see his eyes are actually blue. 

He trembles in shock from the pain but manages to look over at you and say, "Thank... y- you." 

He takes his last breath and then dies with a relieved expression. You slump to the floor, half exhausted and half in shock that you lost control over yourself like that, as the white fire around you dissipates. You make your way over to Astrid and notice she is still breathing, although faintly. 

Kira comes over and says, "Are you guys alright?" 

"Astrid was wounded, she needs to rest." You say as you pick her up. 

"But Mika, you're..." Kira says looking at the trail of blood you are leaving behind you as you carry Astrid to the brothel. 

"I'm fine." You say trying not to worry her. 

You make it inside and set Astrid down on a couch. 

"Mika, you need to rest too, look at your wounds." Kira protests. 

You ignore her pleas and focus on healing as much as you can while you catch your breath and then walk back outside to rejoin the fight. Priscilla leaps from one demon to the next, tearing off limbs as she works her way through the horde. Meanwhile, C.C. is throwing black fire at any who get too close to the brothel. Kira fires an arrow and hits a demon in the eye as you rush out to help Priscilla. When you get closer, you see that Priscilla is bleeding, although from her movements, you assume her injuries aren't that bad. 

Your blade slices through a demon's chest and you launch flames at another standing nearby, incinerating him. The demons are beginning to thin out as the four of you press on, pushing them deeper into the city. After turning a corner, you see a hooded figure standing atop one of the nearby buildings, raising his bony arms to the sky. 

"What is that?" Kira asks.

She coming to a stop when she sees the man's black cloak catching the wind. You look up and see black energy swirling around him and then it shoots out into the corpses scattered around the area. The demons and townspeople that lay slain in the streets begin to move and slowly rise to their feet. The black energy flows into them and a thick, bone like exoskeleton covers their bodies. 

"Necros..." C.C. says in disbelief. 

"Who is that?" You ask.

C.C. responds, "He's a necromancer, and he's very powerful. We have to take him out first or else he will just resurrect any demons we kill into those, things." 

Priscilla smiles and says, "No problem, he can't hide from me up there." 

C.C. tries to stop her, but Priscilla runs full speed towards and demons. The rest of you follow, but she quickly jumps onto the side of a building and continues running towards Necros on all fours. Priscilla jumps to another building and lands on the roof. She leaps towards Necros, but hundreds of his undead servants burst out from behind Necros and pile on top of her mid air, causing her to fall to the ground. As you charge in Priscilla stands up, knocking back most of the demons surrounding her, although some remain and one of them bites into her shoulder. It tears off a piece of flesh as Priscilla screams and then smashes the demon's head between her hands. 

You and the others make it to her side and she says, "Sorry about that, but there's a lot more of those things on the street behind him. I couldn't see them until it was too late." 

"I'm just glad you're alright." Kira says as she tries to use her magic to heal Priscilla's wound. 

You and C.C. fend off a few demons until Priscilla says, "That's good enough, I'm alright." 

C.C. looks to her and says, "We have to work together, one lands the killing blow, and the rest clear a path and protect her." 

Priscilla slams her fist into her other hand and says, "Alright then, back me up!" 

You nod and charge ahead of Priscilla, quickly cutting down the walking corpses shambling towards you. C.C. and Kira move to either side of Priscilla and begin throwing fire as they follow you towards Necros. The corpses aren't hard to put down, but they rise up again after only a short time and soon they have you completely surrounded as you push deeper into the mob. When you are close, Priscilla jumps high into the air towards Necros, as Kira and C.C. also fly up, dealing with any corpses that jump up at them. Suddenly, more corpses burst out of the surrounding buildings and jump toward Priscilla. C.C. quickly unleashes a wave of black fire and vaporizes most of them and Kira takes care of the few that survived. Priscilla is almost at the top of the building when you notice Necros raising his arms again. 

You remember how badly Astrid was hurt and you feel a familiar surge of energy course through you. Necros points a bony finger at Priscilla and a flood of corpses comes piling onto the roof behind him and straight towards Priscilla. She can't stop and there are too many for Kira and C.C. to handle. An arc of energy slices diagonally through the front half of the roof causing it to fall as you fly through the air towards Priscilla, surrounded by the white fire. You turn towards the corpses and unleash a deadly arcs of energy that slice through the crowd and easily dismember them. 

Priscilla now has a clear path and tackles Necros. They tumble across the rooftop and Priscilla comes to rest on top of him. She raises her arms and puts her hands together, interlacing her fingers to form one big fist. Necros raises his hands as if to block her strike, but Priscilla screams and slams her fists down so hard that it crushes both his arms and his head. The corpses stand still for a moment before they begin to fall down. The bony exoskeletons start dissolving as well, leaving leaving only an indistinguishable mess of gore behind. You can't even tell if they were demons or townspeople. 

"Thanks for the assist." Priscilla says and as you laugh you begin to feel lightheaded. 

You almost lose your footing and sit down before saying, "Maybe I used too much energy, I feel really tired all of a sudden." 

"That was pretty cool though!" Kira jokes. 

You can hear everyone laugh but the world feels like it's spinning to you. You lose consciousness, still sitting on the rooftop.


	27. Practice Makes Perfect

You wake up in a bedroom in C.C.'s brothel. Your wounds seem to have mostly healed and you get out of bed and head downstairs. 

"Morning, sleepy head. Feel better?" C.C. jokes. 

You nod and say, "Yeah, what happened?" 

C.C. smiles and says, "What do you think? We cleaned up the rest of the demons and patched you and Astrid up." 

"Where is everyone?" You ask, noticing you and C.C. seem to be the only people in the brothel. 

"You were asleep for a day and a half, but your wounds weren't life threatening, so all we could do was let you rest. The others are out looking for survivors and I sent my girls home so they could check on their families." C.C. says looking out the window at the city. 

"How bad is it?" You ask, thinking about how many people must have died. 

"About a third of the city has been damaged beyond repair. I guess they figured out I've been helping you because Priscilla said they came straight for the brothel this time." C.C. says.

You walk over and say, "I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen." 

C.C. smiles and says, "You don't have to apologize, I'm the one who wanted to fight back against them. Don't worry, not even the townspeople think of you like that. They see you out there doing everything you can to fight the demons and it gives them courage. They also heard Iliya refer to you as the champion, so I wouldn't be surprised if they start treating you like Mara herself." 

C.C. laughs and you say, "Great, that's going to make things complicated if word gets around." 

The front doors open and Priscilla and Astrid walk in. 

"Oh, you finally decided to get out of bed? Everyone's been waiting on you." Astrid says with a smile.

You're relieved that she's back on her feet and say, "You could have put me on the ship you know, we'd probably be in Valen City already." 

"Actually, Farah asked us to wait one more day. She said a few of her ships were on their way to deliver aid to the townspeople. She wanted us to stay in case the demons showed up again, but thankfully, they haven't." Priscilla says. 

So while the battle was going on, Farah thought ahead and called in help? 

You remind yourself to thank her later and say, "Where's Kira?" 

"She's been helping Farah's crew distribute food and medicine." Priscilla replies. 

Astrid folds her arms and says, "Are we ready yet or what?" 

You nod and make your way outside following Astrid. 

C.C. glides over and whispers, "She was a little upset that she was carried here by you. Don't worry though, she'll get over it." 

She laughs and soon you arrive at the Ashstep. People have gathered around the cargo hold, where Farah's crew are handing out crates of supplies to the people. You make your way past the crowd and into the ship where you see Diedra giving orders to a few crewmen. 

"Go check the medical tent and see if they need more help down there, and you, get the rest of these crates down there, those people need... Mika? Is that you?" Diedra says. You smile and wave and she immediately salutes you and says, "I misjudged you Mika. I heard about what happened after I was injured and I want to apologize for my actions." 

You smile and say, "You don't have to salute me, I'm not even part of the crew." 

You laugh but Diedra says, "Even so, if it weren't for you, the captain would have died. You have my respect." 

Diedra extends her small green hand and you shake it and say, "Thank you, I appreciate it." 

Diedra tells you that Kira and Farah are on the bridge and you make your way up there.

Farah says, "Ah good you're here. I was starting to get bored. You ready now?" 

You nod and Farah begins speaking over the intercom, "Listen up! Get the last of the supplies on the ground, we're taking off in ten! All medical crew are to stay here and help the wounded, there's another ship that should be here within the hour to help as well. All flight and battle crew report to your stations immediately and check your equipment." 

Farah turns to you and says, "Give 'em a few minutes to offload the rest of the crates and I'll start up the engines. I think Kira went out onto the deck, why don't you go let her know you're awake?" 

You agree and on your way out you see Priscilla making herself comfortable at a console while Astrid asks Farah about the ship's cannons. C.C. follows you out onto the deck where you see Kira, who is transformed and seems to be concentrating on her hands. There is a small amount of fire in her palms but when she notices you, it fizzles out. 

"Sorry for interrupting you." You say.

Kira shakes her head and says, "It's ok, I.. uh, hold on." She returns to her normal self with a puff of smoke and continues, "I've been trying to practice, but it uses so much energy to cast anything while I'm transformed." 

Kira looks down but C.C. says, "I thought you were doing just fine in that last battle. You don't have to push yourself." 

Kira thanks her and the three of you go back to the bridge. You and C.C. take a seat near the back wall as the room slowly fills with Farah's crew. Astrid joins you but it looks like Priscilla is enjoying herself at the console, and after a few minutes a crewman reports that they are finished unloading the crates. 

Farah dismisses him and says, "All right, take us up slowly, we don't want to injure those people even more." 

The ship begins gaining altitude and before long it is above the city. 

"Valen City set as destination captain!" A crewman reports.

Farah yells, "Fire up the engines!" 

The ship gains speed quickly and and soon Ardent City is over the horizon. 

"Sorry, but we're not gonna get back as fast as we got here. Those damn magicores are expensive as hell." Farah says. 

"That's fine, I could use a little training." You reply. 

Farah smiles and says, "Just don't break anything, or I'm gonna have to charge you." 

You smile and turn to leave when Priscilla gets up and follows you out onto the deck. 

"I was looking over this ship's internal systems and something dawned on me. They have a complex system that takes information from all areas of the ship and sends it directly to the bridge in real time. It got me thinking about the black slime on the island. What if it was collecting anything it could pollute, and sending those nutrients somewhere else? That would explain why the island is barren now, but then why are they injecting it into Mara? There are still too many things I don't understand, but I have a theory. If Iliya wanted to, she could have wiped out the population long ago, but instead she has never left the island and rarely ever shows her face." Priscilla thinks aloud. 

"I assume Mara was on the island when the meteor fell and she was most likely injured, perhaps even unconscious when Iliya found her. Even with her strength, she would no doubt be interested in a goddesses power, and she probably took advantage of Mara's weakened condition and chained her up where you found her. If she experimented on Mara she would find herself unable to use Mara's blessing like you do. Only those Mara chooses can wield her power, that's what I've heard anyway, but what if she found a way to make her demonic energy synchronize with Mara's? We know Iliya has created demons in the past, so it's reasonable to think she could create a creature naturally infused with Mara's energy and her own. She would be able to control it and wield the power just the same as you. Perhaps that is where the slime comes in. As a way to maintain a single cell until it becomes a new life form. I may not be entirely correct, but Iliya has definitely been working on something for a long time now." Priscilla says.

You don't quite understand how she came to these conclusions, but it does sort of make sense. 

"I guess we'll find out in a few days." You say, thinking of how fierce the battle with Iliya is going to be. 

"Yes, I just hope we can stop her before things get out of hand." Priscilla responds. 

"Hey, do you want to spar a little, Astrid kind of goes overboard." You ask and Priscilla laughs.

"I suppose she does, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you." Priscilla says.

You and Priscilla spend a few hours sparring and she teaches you how to better defend yourself without a weapon. C.C. eventually calls you and Priscilla to join the crew for dinner. She has prepared another feast for the remaining crew and as you enter, you hear a crewman praising her.

"Miss C.C. your cooking is the best, I think I love you, but don't tell the captain!" He declares.

C.C. smiles and shakes her head while saying, "I think you've been hanging around me for too long, you should get some rest and you'll feel like yourself again. And it's mistress, I thought I told you that already?" 

The man is embarrassed and says, "Y- yes, mistress C.C." 

You join Astrid and Kira at the table and C.C. hands you a plate. After the meal you decide to rest up and get an early start tomorrow, so you go to your room and lay in bed. You aren't quite tired yet, so you idly conjure fire from your hand and try changing it to ice. You practice until you can almost instantly switch between elements and yawn. You lay back and a short while later you fall asleep. You wake up in the morning and find Kira asleep on your pillow, right next to your face. You smile and shake your head as you get up and head out of the room. 

You run into Farah on the way down the hall and she says, "Someone's getting an early start. Care to join me for coffee?" You agree and follow her to the bridge. Farah hands you a cup and says, "That whole mess in Ardent City was pretty crazy huh? But something tells me the worst has yet to come." 

You nod and say, "Yeah, it seems like we've been winning so far, but who knows what's going to happen once we get to the island." 

Farah smiles and says, "I'm glad you're taking this seriously, you aren't invincible after all." 

"I know that, I've only been a champion for a few weeks. I lived my life as a normal person before I ended up here, I know better than anyone how easily I could die if I'm not careful." You say before taking a drink. 

"Well there's a whole ship full of people ready to make sure that doesn't happen, so cheer up, it can't all be bad news, right?" Farah says with a smile. 

You agree and finish your coffee as Farah sits in her chair. Out on the deck, the air rushing by makes the morning air a bit chilly, but it's alright, you were planning to train hard and work up a sweat anyways. You practice using magic for a while and you have an idea. You try to combine fire and ice magic into a single attack, but they keep canceling each other out and nothing really happens. You try swapping lightning for ice, thinking maybe those two elements are just naturally opposed to each other, but the same thing happens. 

"That won't work no matter what elements you use." You look over and see Astrid leaning against the railing. She walks over while saying, "All magic has its own frequency so trying to combine two different wavelengths just ends up scrambling both of them. Now, if you were to use fire in both hands, they would resonate, and create a more powerful blast." 

You look at your hands and then conjure fire in both of them. You extend your arms over the railing with your palms outstretched and release your energy. Fire swirls out of your palms like a tornado and roars into the air. You cut the flow of magic and look at your hands again, realizing this is why the electricity seemed to affect Vestix more than fire back in the cathedral. 

"That was pretty good, just remember, you expend twice the energy if you use it like that." You thank Astrid and she says, "So I saw you were training with Priscilla yesterday, huh?" 

You nod and say, "Yeah, we just sparred a little." 

"And why wasn't I invited? I was all bored in the bridge thinking everyone else was just gonna rest until we got there." Astrid says impatiently. 

"Sorry, I just wanted to train and she happened to be there." You reply. 

"Well I'm here now, so let's go!" Astrid smiles and throws a left hook. You quickly duck and back away as she advances and says, "I saw how well that blade of yours works, come on let's play a little." 

Astrid creates her blade of energy and you draw your sword. You both charge and meet in the center of the deck, swords clashing as you attack and parry each others blows. The pace gradually quickens until you and Astrid are moving as fast as you can. Energy begins to crackle violently around you two as your swords rapidly crash together over and over. 

"You're even better than last time! How about... this!" Astrid says as she changes her attack pattern.

Now she leans forward slightly and thrusts her blade towards you and then instantly retracts it. She stabs hundreds of times into the air so fast you can hardly see it, as she keeps inching closer to you. You hold your blade tightly and begin to parry Astrid's attacks as fast as you can. You try to dodge the ones you aren't fast enough to block, but some end up hitting you anyway. When they hit you, Astrid's attacks seem to have force behind them, but they aren't cutting into your armor, almost as if she was using the blunt end of a sword instead of the edge. 

Eventually she relents and proudly says, "Eh, you still need some practice, I got you a few times." 

You sigh and say, "If you wanna spar, give me a little warning next time." 

Astrid frowns and says, "You think the demons are gonna give you a heads up every time they attack? You have to be prepared for anything." 

You shake your head and say, "Well can you at least teach me something before you go attacking me next time?" 

"I did teach you something before we began." Astrid says sarcastically. "Well, you wanna learn? Then get over here." 

Astrid begins attacking like the demons do, but very slowly, and she explains how they react and how to best counter them. She goes step by step and is very detailed, especially when it comes to how to kill them. 

After a few more hours, C.C. finds you and says, "So this is where you were, figures. You missed breakfast but I made you two some lunch, so take a break." 

You and Astrid continue to talk about combat strategies as you eat the sandwiches C.C. has prepared.   
After eating, Astrid says, "What else? Oh, do you know how to use magic for defense?" 

You shake your head and say, "Not really, I've only used it to attack." 

Astrid channels her energy and a thin, transparent purple layer covers her skin. "Now go ahead, try it out, don't be shy." 

You nod and swing your sword at her torso, but it just bounces off without leaving a mark. 

"It holds up better against physical attacks, but if you put enough energy into it..." Astrid pauses and lets more of her energy flow into her barrier until it is clearly visible. "It can protect you against magic as well, although it's always better to avoid being hit by magic all together if possible. Go ahead, just don't put a whole bunch of energy into it." 

You ready fire magic and shoot the flames towards Astrid, but they bounce off almost like it was water splashing off a surface. 

"See, something like this could mean the difference between life and death out there. There are some limitations with every kind of magic, but for the most part, you're only limited by your own determination. Keep practicing, even if you don't exactly know what you're doing, trial and error is the best way to learn." Astrid explains. She releases her energy and says, "I'm going to go get more food, I'm still hungry. You want to come?" 

You shake your head and say, "I think I'm going to keep training for a while." 

Astrid nods and leaves as you walk back out to the railing and look and the landscape racing by underneath the ship. You wonder if you can create a barrier, like Priscilla did on the Elysium, but decide to try Astrid's version instead. You spend the rest of the day practicing what you've learned and when C.C. calls you for dinner, you feel tired. Eating a hearty meal gives you a second wind though, and after you finish, you resume your training. Later on, Farah comes out onto the deck to smoke and stands beside you. 

Your barrier flickers and then disappears and you say, "I think I used up all of my energy, I feel exhausted." 

You hang your arms over the railing and Farah says, "Well I can't use magic, so I wouldn't know, but you do look pretty tired." 

She takes a long drag and then hands you her pipe. You stand back up and take a drag, noticing it tastes different this time. 

"I wanted to thank you for sending aid to the townspeople. I'm sure you saved a lot of lives. By the way, what's in here?" You say, handing the pipe back to Farah. 

She laughs and says, "Something I picked up in the black market back in Cyldell. Don't worry, it's nothing bad, it just calms your nerves and relaxes you, and the best part? It doesn't turn you into a sex addicted slut." 

You laugh and it's true you feel more relaxed and figure this is probably like weed back home. 

Farah hands you the pipe again and as you take it you say, "You know, if Gwen were here, I would probably be having fun doing all of this, but instead I feel guilty." You take another hit and pass the pipe back to Farah before saying, "I really hope she's alright after all this time." 

Farah pats you on the back and says, "We're in the home stretch now, there's no use worrying about it. We'll find out soon enough." 

"I guess you're right." You reply.

Farah laughs and says, "Of course I am, I'm the captain! Now go get some rest, captain's orders. We should be arriving in Valen by morning." 

You two share another laugh before you take her advice and head to your room. You find Kira asleep on your pillow again, but using all of your magic really drains you, and you just crawl into bed beside her. Sleep comes quickly and you dream of rescuing Gwen.


	28. Calm Before The Storm

Farah's voice rings out over the intercom early in the morning, "Rise and shine people! Valen City is in sight, we should be landing in about fifteen minutes." 

You stretch out and Kira yawns saying, "Is it morning already?" 

You get dressed and head out onto the deck with Kira. Astrid and Priscilla are already outside, looking towards the city growing ever closer. You are relieved to see lush greenery and familiar landmarks replace the endless sea of sand. 

"Ahh, finally back home!" Kira says excitedly. 

"You know, I've never been to Valen City before." Priscilla says.

Astrid replies, "Me either. I wonder how it compares to Ardent City?" 

You step over to the railing and say, "It's peaceful, for the most part. If I didn't have somewhere to go back to, I would probably settle down there myself." 

Astrid folds her arms and says, "Sounds boring." 

"I don't know, having a nice, quiet place to research sounds lovely to me." Priscilla replies. 

Kira taps you on the shoulder and says, "Should we introduce them to Vivienne?" 

You think for a moment and say, "I suppose so, we need to come up with a plan to infiltrate the island anyways, maybe she would have an idea." 

The Ashstep begins to slow down and in a few minutes, it lands on a small hill just outside Valen City.

You hear Farah's voice on the intercom again, "Valen City isn't set up to accommodate airships, so this is as close as we can get. Mika, please report to the bridge before you head out." 

You wonder what this is about as you make your way to the bridge. You open the door and see the entire the crew saluting you. 

"What's going on?" You say hesitantly. 

Farah makes her way past a few crewmen and says, "Everything is riding on you now. Everyone wanted to show their support, we can't fight with you, but they all want you to succeed from the bottom of their hearts. We got a report from the relief ship I sent out to Ardent City. They need backup, but the only ship in range is the Ashstep. I want to go with you and see this through, but I can't leave my men out there to die after I told them to stay behind." 

You shake your head and say, "You've helped me more than you know, trust me. You go help your crew, we'll take care of the rest." 

Farah steps forward and wraps her arms around you tightly while saying, "Be careful out there, and after all this is over, I'm buyin you a drink!" 

You laugh and so does Farah. You make your way down to the cargo hold and exit the ship. From here, you can see the spot where you first arrived in Thanos. You realize this is the calm before the storm, as things will be much worse once you reach the island. When everyone is ready, you walk the short distance to the front gates as the Ashstep lifts off. As you pass through the gates into the city, you notice the guards keeping a close eye on you at all times. Maybe it's because you're walking around with a demon. 

"So what's the plan?" Priscilla says. 

"Kira and I have a friend in the city, she said she wouldn't fight the demons but even so, she's a master hunter and she might have an idea as to how we can get onto the island unnoticed." You reply.

Astrid thinks for a moment before she says, "A surprise attack, huh? Not really my style, but I suppose charging in through the front door would be pretty stupid." 

"Yeah, I doubt we will go unnoticed for very long, but if we could avoid a fight while we're crossing the ocean, it would help a lot." You say.

Priscilla adds, "Yes, in the open water, only Kira and C.C. would be able to effectively fight, the rest of us would be easy targets for the flying demons." 

"So where is this friend of yours?" C.C. asks. 

"Come on! I'll show you!" Kira says as she begins gliding through the streets. 

You arrive at Vivienne's home, but there is no answer when you knock. 

"Hmm, maybe she's at the bar?" Kira suggests, so you make your way over to the tavern. 

As you walk in, the laughter and cheering immediately stops and everyone stares at you. You look around, unsure of what is happening, until a familiar face greets you. 

Lenore, the centaur weapons dealer trots up and says, "Well, if it isn't my favorite customer. Fancy seeing you here, miss demon slayer." 

You notice people are huddling together whispering among themselves, throwing you an occasional glance. 

One of the patrons, a goat man, come up and says, "Umm... excuse me but, everyone would like to know, are you really her? Are you Mara's champion? The one that killed all those demons in Ardent City?" 

Shit, how did word spread so quickly? Well, there's do point trying to deny it now. 

"Uh, yeah that's me, but I didn't do it alone. These people all risked their lives fighting the demons with me." You say as you point towards your companions. 

Another round of whispers and stares travels around the room until someone says, "But that one is a demon, why are you traveling with her?" 

Astrid looks angry but you say, "Yes, she is a demon, but she has also saved my life. I can vouch for her intentions." 

The people look around and then someone says, "If it's good enough for the champion, it's good enough for me. Welcome to Valen City! What's your name?" 

Astrid hesitantly states her name and the man says, "Well then Astrid, how about a drink? First round's on me!" 

Astrid lightens up and follows the man to the bar as your companions get comfortable. 

Lenore looks to you and says, "Oh, by the way, about Lilith. She's doing a great job and even got a small house recently. I helped pay for it, but she deserves it, she's such a hard worker. Thanks for bringing her to me, my business is booming now!" Lenore laughs and invites you to the bar. 

You sit down and have a look around, but you don't see Vivienne anywhere. Oh well, she didn't want to fight anyways, maybe it's better not to get her involved further. 

"I don't see Vivienne, but maybe that's for the best." You say to your companions. 

"You said she didn't want to fight, right? Then let's just come up with something on our own." Priscilla says confidently. 

Astrid suggests waiting for Farah to return and using her airship. 

"That would take too long, and besides, if demons attack Ardent City again, she's the only one that can protect those people." You reply. 

The bartender comes up and offers your group a free round of drinks. You decline, deep in thought, but Astrid and Priscilla take him up on his offer. 

"Perhaps there is a way." Priscilla says after taking a long drink from her mug. 

"What did you have in mind?" You ask. 

Priscilla looks at each member of your group and says, "All of us have different strengths and weaknesses, but if we work together, like we did against Necros, I think we can pull it off." 

C.C. seems intrigued and says, "Well, don't keep us waiting." 

Priscilla smiles and says, "I am skilled in illusions, meaning I could conceal us from sight on our voyage to the island. I can't do anything about the water though, it will still look like something is moving along the surface. If we cross in the dead of night however, it would be harder for the demons to detect it. The flying demons patrol the waters at night, but that's where C.C. comes in. She can use her magic to distract any demons that come too close, and if for some reason they find us, it's up to Mika and Astrid to take them out before they can alert the others." 

"What about me?" Kira asks. 

Priscilla looks to her and says, "You will have a different, but equally important task. You and Mika were the only ones to meet with Hakon, meaning if we want to get a message to him, one of you will have to go. Mika's skills would be put to better use helping us cross the ocean. You and Hakon however, would be able to easily fly across the water and catch up." 

"Priscilla's right, it would have to be me or you, and I think you are the best person for the job. We need Hakon's strength if we want to beat the demons." You say reassuringly. 

Kira perks up and says, "Ok then! Just leave it to me!" 

"Why don't you get going Kira? By the time you and Hakon are leaving the mountain, we should be on our way as well." Priscilla says.

Kira nods and flies out of the tavern with a determined look on her face. 

"So who's this Hakon guy anyway?" Astrid asks. 

"He's an ice deity, a very powerful one. He's the one who suggested that I seek you out." You reply. 

"We'll see who's stronger once we get to the island." Astrid says with a smile. 

You give her a serious look and say, "We're only going to have one chance, after everything Iliya has done, there's no way we're getting off that island unless she's dead. There isn't any room for showing off or testing each others strength. We work together, or we die, it's that simple." 

Your words bring a sobering reminder that this could be where your life ends. Your group looks like they are wondering if they will succeed.

You say, "A lot of people have died so that we could make it this far. There's no way I could turn back now and have all those deaths be in vain. I'm going to see this through to the end and make Iliya pay for every minute she's held Gwen captive." 

"Yeah, I have some unfinished business with Iliya myself." Astrid remarks.

C.C. says, "Me too! She's been messing with my business for too long!" 

"I for one, am interested in their magic, perhaps if I study it, I could reverse the effects of the black slime." Priscilla says. 

It seems your determination has rekindled everyone's own personal motives. 

As you wonder what the final battle will be like, you hear someone say, "By the gods, it's you!" 

Before you can see who it is, they wrap their arms around you and embrace you tightly. They let go of you and after turning around you see Vivienne. 

She has tears in her eyes as she says, "I've felt horrible after hearing that you were fighting in Ardent City, like I sent you out to your death alone. I'm so sorry." 

You smile and say, "It's ok, you helped me out when I first came here and I appreciate it. You don't owe me anything Vivienne." 

The slender elf reaches out and hugs you again while saying, "No, you're wrong. I was so scared of the demons, I thought they couldn't be stopped, but look what you've done." 

You look around the room and hear a few different people talking about what they're going to do when you finally get rid of the demons. 

"You brought hope to people that had already given up. You made me realize that I have to overcome this fear, and I would be grateful if you would let me fight by your side." Vivienne says with resolve.

You are surprised at her change of heart and say, "Of course, we can use all the help we can get. Priscilla, can you fit Vivienne into your plan?" 

Priscilla thinks and then says, "If C.C. hovers above the boat, I suppose we would all fit. What are your talents Vivienne?" 

Vivienne smiles and says, "My eyesight and hearing are well above average and on top of that, I can shoot the wings off a fly." 

Priscilla says, "Good, then you can help Mika and Astrid." 

You explain the plan to Vivienne who says, "Alright, I think that could work. So we're leaving at midnight then?" 

You nod and she says, "Well, I have to go pick up my bow, care to join me Mika?" 

You agree and leave your companions at the bar as you follow Vivienne to her house. 

"You seem to have made a lot of friends." Vivienne says as she opens the door. 

"Yeah, they all have their own reasons for being here, but I'm lucky that they agreed to come." You say. 

Vivienne shakes her head and says, "Luck has nothing to do with it. Just like me, I think they see something in you, and they want to follow you and find out what is drawing them to you." Vivienne picks up her bow and quiver while saying, "You've accomplished more than anyone has in just a few weeks. It's no surprise that they want to be by your side." 

"I guess so, but I'm only human. I might have these powers now, but I was a normal person before. I don't know if I will be able to defeat Iliya, but I don't have any other choice, so I'm going to put everything I have into it." You respond. 

Vivienne smiles and says, "That's what I mean. You instill a sense of courage and when people see your unbreakable will, they have no choice but to heed your words." 

You feel a little bit better, but at the same time, you feel the pressure of being the only one with the power to stop Iliya. 

"You don't have to worry, everyone is going to make sure you are reunited with Gwen, then we can deal with Iliya." Vivienne says with a smile. 

Her words are comforting, although it is still a little strange for her of all people to be eager to jump into the fight. As Vivienne locks up, you see another familiar face walking down the street, or rather, slithering. 

"Hey how's it going Lilith?" You say and when she notices you, she comes slithering over.

"Hi Mika! I didn't know you were back in town. I'm doing great, thanks to you and miss Lenore." Lilith says happily.

You smile and say, "That's good, I'm glad you're adjusting well to life in the city." 

Lilith nods and says, "Yeah, people were scared at first, but miss Lenore told everyone she talked to about how helpful I was and people started treating me like a normal person." 

You put your hand on the snake girl's shoulder and say, "You are a normal person Lilith, regardless of how you look. You just want to live, there's nothing wrong with that." 

Lilith smiles and says, "At first I wasn't sure how things would turn out, but I'm so happy now and it's all because you saw me as a person and not some snake monster. I've been saving up a little and I bought something to thank you, in case I ever saw you again. My house isn't far, would you come with me?" 

You agree and the three of you walk down an alley before you come to another street. Lilith leads you to a quaint little house along the city wall.

She stops outside and says, "Here it is! My very own home! Come in." 

Lilith opens the door and waves you and Vivienne in. The interior is pretty bare, but she did just move in and said she spent her money on a gift for you. 

Vivienne follows your lead and tries to be supportive and says, "I love your house Lilith, it's so cozy. If you ever need some new clothes to go with your new place, let me know, a friend of Mika's is a friend of mine." 

Tears begin welling up in Lilith's eyes as she says, "Thank you. I never expected for everyone to be so, accepting of me." 

"Like I said, you're a normal girl Lilith, people just needed to be reminded of that." You say.

Lilith wipes the tears away and says, "I know, it's just strange to have been shunned for my whole life and now suddenly, everyone is nice to me. I'm still getting used to it, that's all. Oh! Here it is, this is what I wanted to give you." 

Lilith holds out a blue sphere of pure crystal about the size of a teardrop. 

"A merchant came through town a while back. He stopped by the shop to have a dagger repaired and when I told him I was looking for a gift, he showed me this. He said it was a good luck charm, and that it can even grant a single wish if the person is pure of heart. I couldn't think of anyone more pure than you Mika, so I want you to have this, even if it's just pretty crystal. I would at least feel better knowing you had it when you fight the demons." Lilith says.

You smile and say, "Thank you, I'll keep it with me and hopefully it will bring me some luck." 

You reach out and grab the crystal and it glows brightly at your touch. the glowing subsides after a few seconds and nothing else happens. 

You look around confused and say, "That was weird." 

Lilith smiles and says, "Maybe it is magical after all!" 

You look at the small crystal in your hand again and try to channel some of your energy into it. It greedily absorbs your energy, but still, nothing happens. 

"Did the merchant say anything else about this thing?" You ask. 

Lilith shakes her head and says, "He just said it was a good luck charm. I didn't ask about how it worked." 

You shrug and say, "Oh well, I'll keep it anyway. Thanks Lilith." 

You and Vivienne talk with Lilith for a while until you suggest returning to the bar. 

"So, this is it then? You're going to the island tonight?" Lilith asks obviously worried. 

You nod and say, "Yeah, we're ready to put an end to this." You reply. 

"Be careful Mika, and, make sure they pay for everything." Lilith says. 

"Count on it." You reply.

Vivienne leads the way back to the bar and upon entering, you notice Priscilla is not here so you make your way to the bar next to Astrid. 

"Where's Priscilla?" You ask Astrid.

She responds, "She went to the dock to get us a boat, it's almost time are you ready?" 

You nod and say, "Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be."

C.C. glides over and says, "I didn't know you were so popular around here. Everyone seems to know your name." 

"All they've heard are rumors. Last time I was here, I didn't meet any of these people." You reply, looking around the bar. 

"Maybe you just didn't introduce yourself." C.C. jokes. You shake your head and C.C. laughs. 

A while later Priscilla returns and says, "I've taken care of the preparations, we're ready to go when you are." 

You nod, but C.C. says, "Hey isn't there like a potion shop or something? Don't you think we should stock up while we can? It would save energy if we needed to heal light wounds." 

Priscilla nods and says, "Yes, but those potions are very expensive, we wouldn't be able to afford even one." 

C.C. smiles and says, "Did you forget who owns the most successful business in Ardent City? Even if they are that expensive, I'm sure I could get one for all of us if I use everything I brought with me." 

"Did you really bring that many arens with you? Where are you keeping them?" Priscilla says in disbelief. 

C.C. unbuckles the satchel from the strap around her torso and opens it. 

She begins taking out handfuls of golden arens at a time saying, "This bag is like Kira's, it's enchanted, so I can put all kinds of stuff in here!" 

You suggest that this isn't the best place to be showing off her wealth. She sighs and begins putting the coins back into her bag. 

She says, "So, is there a shop in town?" 

"There's only one shop in town that sells potions, but it's run by that crazy cat girl." Vivienne replies. 

You know exactly who she is talking about and after a short walk, your group is in front of Salem's warehouse. 

You open the door and say, "Salem, are you in here?" 

The cute cat girl pops up from behind the counter and begins to greet you, but as your friends enter, she looks worried.

Salem cowers and says, "Crap. Come on this isn't fair, all of you against me?" 

You guess it kind of does look like that but you say, "No, I... What's done is done, no hard feelings. These are my friends, we were wondering if you had any healing potions." 

Salem looks relieved and says, "Whew! I thought you might still be mad, but I see you've come around, huh?" 

You warn her not to push it and she says, "Ok, ok, I do have some of those potions left over, they're in the back, come with me." 

You follow her to the back shelves and she points out three vials filled with light blue liquid. 

"That's all you have?" Priscilla asks.

Salem responds, "Yeah, not a whole lot of people want to have fun with a big ol' horsecock anymore. Everyone's all like, 'I need to heal my wounds' or 'my daughter is sick, she needs to be healed'. These things are the only thing that actually sell. I don't get it." 

You sigh and say, "Never mind, we'll just take what you have." 

Salem nods and rings you up. "One hundred fifty eight thousand arens please." 

Salem says extending her slim hand with a smile. Priscilla looks like she is going to object to the price, but C.C. glides over and begins taking out a small mountain of arens with a smile. It takes a while for them to count out all the money, but eventually, Salem hands C.C. the potions and you are on your way. The walk to the docks isn't very long and you travel in silence, mentally preparing yourself for the biggest battle yet.


	29. Voyage

The moon is high over head as your group stands in front of the boat Priscilla prepared. 

"We're going across in this tiny thing?" Astrid says looking at the small, wooden boat. 

"Yes, the smaller the boat, the smaller the wake that follows it. We're trying to sneak in, remember?" Priscilla remarks.

"No use arguing about it, let's go." You say and climb onto the front of the boat. Astrid takes the rear and Priscilla and Vivienne sit in the middle. 

As Priscilla begins to row, she says, "Remember, using magic will produce light, which will give us away, so let Vivienne take care of the demons with her bow. C.C., we're counting on you to distract the demons away from the boat." 

You look to everyone and say, "This is it, be ready for anything." 

The boat slowly glides over the water's surface as the moonlight bathes the area in a pale light. The first hour or so is uneventful, but then demons start flying by in the distance more frequently. 

"Alright, I'm going to conceal us now, Vivienne, use those eyes of your and keep a lookout." Priscilla says as her eyes begin to glow. 

Vivienne nods and begins scanning the skies while her long ears perk up at every little sound. After a while, a thin mist begins to blanket the water.

Vivienne whispers, "Over there." 

She points to an area in front of the boat, as you activate Mara's blessing and sense the flying demon as well. Priscilla nods to C.C. and she takes a deep breath. C.C. kisses her hand and blows it towards the demon in the distance. It's movements become irregular and it soon flies in the opposite direction. The boat continues it's slow journey as the demonic presence becomes stronger. 

Flying demons are passing directly overhead as C.C. struggles to keep up with their numbers. Vivienne raises her bow at a demon flying straight towards the boat. It doesn't seem to notice anything and gains altitude as it flies past the boat. Vivienne tracks it until it is out of range and continues scanning the skies as you tense up and have an ominous feeling. None of the demons have noticed you yet, although the mist is getting thicker and begins to swirl unnaturally. 

"The mist is going to give us away, damn, I didn't expect this." Priscilla whispers as demons continue to pass by overhead. 

"Just keep going." You respond. 

C.C. is trying her best, but there are too many for her to handle and some of them notice the mist being distorted by the boat. Two of them fly over to investigate and Vivienne loads a second arrow into her bow. One of them must have caught a glimpse of something, because he points to the boat. Before he can make a sound, Vivienne releases the tension on her bow and each arrow sinks into a demon's skull. Both of them fall into the water and you look around as some of the demons heard the splash. C.C. manages to turn three of them away, but three more still approach the boat. 

You silently draw your sword and Vivienne readies another arrow. Two of them pass by the boat without noticing and inspect the area nearby that the splashing noise came from. The last demon slowly glides over and stops just in front of the boat. He's so close you could reach out and slash him, but it would alert the others. You hold your breath as the demon tilts his head and looks right at you. Suddenly, his eyes widen and he opens his mouth to yell. 

You plunge your blade into his throat, but the sound of him choking on his blood makes the others aware that something is wrong. You withdraw your blade and the demon falls into the water as Vivienne kills one of the others. The final demon takes off high into the sky and Vivienne fires another arrow. From this distance, the demon has enough time to move and avoid a fatal injury, as it howls loudly to alert the others. 

"So much for sneaking onto the island, I guess we're gonna have to fight our way there!" Astrid says excitedly. 

Demons begin to swoop in from all angles as you and Astrid hack and slash as many as you can. C.C. throws black fire, and although it does kill them, their corpses still carry momentum and some of them nearly set the boat on fire. 

C.C. quickly strips naked and yells, "Everyone hold your breath!" 

You take a deep breath and turn around to see C.C. rubbing her breast with one hand and her pussy with the other. A pink smoke forms around her and quickly spreads to cover a decent sized area. Every demon in the pink smoke loses control of themselves and begins furiously masturbating. Some of them even forget they are flying and fall into the water. C.C. takes a deep breath and blows out softly. The pink smoke continues to spread out in all directions as the area around the boat clears up. 

"Ok, it should be safe now." C.C. says licking the juices from her fingers. 

You exhale and catch your breath, you had no idea she could do that, and you wonder what other hidden talents your friends possess. 

"That was some attack." You say. 

"Yeah, but I can only do it once. Then I have to build up my lust again." C.C. responds. 

"Your lust?" You say confused. 

"It's just what I call the pink smoke, not my libido, I'm still raring to go!" She smiles. 

Astrid laughs and says, "C.C. can fuck all day and all night and she'd still be begging for more!" 

You shake your head and are about to laugh when you notice the mist becoming distorted. 

"Something's happening." You say pointing to a spot where the mist is gathering. 

As you all look on, the mist slowly forms into Iliya's head, only, it's huge, easily twelve feet tall. As it finishes forming, Iliya's eyes snap open and lock their gaze on you. 

"So you've come back to me? Well I don't remember inviting you this time." The giant head bellows. "I have a special way of dealing with people foolish enough to cross the water, would you like to meet my guard dog?" Iliya says as she smiles.

She opens her mouth as a massive sea monster flies out of the water and through her misty face, causing it to dissipate. The sea serpent is bigger than anything you've ever seen and it glides over the boat and lands in the water on the other side, creating huge waves in the process. Everyone holds on as the boat is slammed with one huge wave after another. 

"What the hell was that?" Priscilla yells over the raging ocean waves. 

"Leviathan." Astrid yells back, "There's no way for us to beat him in the water." 

"What are we supposed to do?" Priscilla asks. 

Astrid just smiles and says, "Don't die. This boat isn't going to hold up much longer, so we have to swim the rest of the way. The current will take you to the island, so just stay alive until then." 

The boat begins to change course and you realize the serpent is making a giant whirlpool. 

"Now's our only chance, if you get caught in that, you're dead! We have to jump, now!" Astrid yells as she leaps over the side of the boat. 

Everyone follows her lead and in a few moments, the boat is consumed in the rapidly swirling waters. 

"Faster!" Astrid yells, leading the mad dash through the dark waters. 

You feel a current growing stronger, but realize it's pulling you backwards.You glance back and don't see anything, but a moment later, the massive sea snake flies straight up out of the water only a few feet behind you. The gigantic creature moves incredibly fast for something its size, and surfacing like that dragged a few thousand gallons of ocean along with it. You and your companions get sucked up as well, but gravity pulls the water back down shortly after and you see that you are very high up over the water now as you begin to fall. 

Leviathan dives back into the water but as his tail passes behind your group, it flails and knocks Astrid into the mist and out of sight. You tumble helplessly through the air and smack down on the water's surface hard. You feel like you're going to lose consciousness, but as you begin choking, it gives your burning muscles a kick as you fight to swim to the surface. You barely make it to the surface before you black out, and choke on the little bit of water you swallowed. The waters are turbulent and it is difficult to stay afloat, but you see C.C. trying to keep Vivienne's head above water. 

You swim as fast as you can towards them and yell, "Are you alright?" 

"Vivienne is unconscious." C.C. yells back as she struggles against the dead weight. 

When you finally make it to C.C., you take Vivienne and bring her above the surface. 

"Can you see the others?" You ask C.C. while making sure Vivienne is still breathing. 

"No, I just happened to land next to her and noticed she wasn't moving." C.C. says, "What do we do now?" 

You put one arm under both of Vivienne's and begin slowly swimming as you say, "Don't die, just like Astrid said." 

You feel another current pulling you back and you yell, "It's coming!" 

C.C. grabs your shoulders and desperately tries to pull you faster through the water, but a loud rumbling sound is followed by Leviathan's massive jaws rising out of the water around you. The force of the water Leviathan kicks up knocks C.C. away and into the water. You instinctively wrap your arms around Vivienne trying to shield her, even though you know it won't do any good. Leviathan's entire head comes out of the water and he snaps his jaws shut, sending you falling through his massive throat in pitch black darkness. The sea serpent lifts its head and roars, while C.C. watches in horror. 

Your eyes suddenly glow as you draw your sword with your free hand. You stab into the beast and sink your blade in as far as it will go, stopping the free fall. You focus on your arm and, with a little help from Mara's blessing, you pull yourself and Vivienne up into the wound. 

"We're not going to die here." You say to her unconscious body.

You hold open the wound with one leg and charge your blade with energy. You slash hard and send a vertical wave of energy ripping through the beast. You grab Vivienne and hold her to your chest tightly as you pour as much energy into your legs as you can. Leviathan begins flailing around causing the wound to constrict you for a moment before relaxing again. You begin to run and the muscle walls slam against you again, and even with your energy, it slows you down considerably. You eventually make it to the edge of the wound and see that you are very high up again. Leviathan thrashes around side to side and you lose your balance standing on the bloody muscles, falling out of the creature and into the air. 

You clutch Vivienne tightly as Leviathan's massive head comes sweeping toward you. You close your eyes and tuck your head against Vivienne's as the gigantic creature collides with your back, sending you flying at an incredible speed. You flip through the air uncontrollably and catch glimpses of what looks like land. Before you can process it, you slam into the shoreline and lose your grip on Vivienne. You tumble back and slam against a large rock, blacking out instantly. 

You awaken to Vivienne lightly slapping you saying, "Come on, come on, we have to get out of here!" 

You are dizzy and struggle to your feet, blinking and shaking your head. Your vision is blurry and tinted red, then you realize it's blood coming from your head. 

You can make out the general shape of the demons surrounding you and yell, "Vivienne, watch my back." 

As you charge in and begin cutting down the demons. With your vision blurred, you can't see some of them coming, but Vivienne's impeccable accuracy stops them dead in their tracks. You manage to fend off the demons and when you kill the last one, you stumble backwards and fall down. 

You sit and wipe the blood from your eyes, breathing heavily, and Vivienne says, "What happened?" 

You catch your breath and say, "That monster almost ate us, but we barely managed to escape. I don't even know how we're still alive." 

Vivienne's ears perk up and she says, "More are coming, maybe you should use one of those potions." 

You shake your head as you stand up and say, "No, I'm fine. We should save them for an emergency." 

"They can only heal light wounds, if someone is on the brink of death, it won't do anything but make their last moments a bit less painful." Vivienne says concerned for you after you saved her life. 

"It's ok, really. Let's just try to find the others. Hopefully they washed up here too." You say as demons approach past some large rocks. 

You and Vivienne duck behind a rock and carefully make your way behind them. You have to take them out now before they find you. You charge your blade and one of the demons looks back at you. An arrow comes to rest in his eye and as the other demons turn to investigate the noise, you slash and release an arc of energy, slicing them all in half from a distance. They fall to the ground but one of them is somehow still alive and his torso crawls towards you, even with only one arm left. You don't feel sorry for this creature in the least, and walk over and smash it's head beneath your foot. 

You and Vivienne continue along the shoreline, taking out one patrol after another. As you kill another group of demons, you notice some of them are gathering on the high ground beyond the beach, trapping you against the water. You clench the handle of your sword tightly while the demons just stand there and watch your every move. Some of them hop down and begin approaching from both sides, boxing you in. More jump down and advance as well, as you slowly back up into the water. Vivienne draws another arrow and you take a few deep breaths and focus. 

Their slow advance means you have time to put energy into your armor as well as your blade. You yell as you run towards the middle of the pack of demons and begin fighting. The demons attack one after another in quick succession, but your training with Astrid is paying off, and you hold them off for a while until one of them sweeps your legs out from under you. You fall onto your back and desperately slash at the demons trying to pile on top of you. They fall dead left and right and soon their corpses threaten to bury you. 

You release the energy in your armor and create a large shockwave, pushing the demons back and giving you time to take a breath and get to your knees. As you try to stand, a large demon runs up and kicks you hard, taking several arrows from Vivienne along the way. You fly through the demons, knocking them down as you impact them and finally slam into the raised ground leading deeper into the island. Your ears are ringing as you stand and see the muscular demon walking towards you as Vivienne fights against the other demons. 

The demon throws a powerful punch, but you quickly evade and swing your sword hard, cutting off half of his hand and a good chunk of his arm. He roars in pain and tries to grab you, but again you dodge and this time you take his other arm. The demon staggers backwards and you try to slice his neck, but he clamps down on your blade with his teeth. His wounds regenerate very quickly and he grabs you with his new hand and slams you down to the ground and kicks you back. He spits out your sword and it lands a few feet away. He lunges at you and you roll out of the way, picking up your sword along the way. 

He roars again but you yell, "Enough!" 

You charge the demon at full speed, releasing arc after arc of white energy that slice through the demon's flesh and dismember him. The pieces fall to the ground as you reach him and, amazingly, he's already starting to regenerate. You quickly raise both your hands and unleash a substantial firestorm upon the mutilated body. The demon's flesh sizzles and quickly dissolves under the intense heat until there is just a black scorch mark on the ground. You rush back to Vivienne and with her help, you finish off the remaining demons. You lean against a large rock and try to catch your breath. Fighting over and over like this is draining your energy, and you know you can't rely on magic this much until you fight Iliya. 

"Mika, there's another large group of demons over there, but, it sounds like they're fighting someone." Vivienne says.

You nod and say, "It has to be one of the others, let's go!" 

Vivienne follows your lead as you sprint towards the sound of fighting. Behind a few large rocks, Priscilla is fighting alone, and she seems to be injured. The demons have her surrounded and you quickly leap into the air and over the crowd of demons, landing next to Priscilla. 

"I was beginning to wonder if anyone else made it." Priscilla says with a smile. 

You don't have time to reply as the demons attack without hesitation. Vivienne jumps on top of a large rock and readies her bow. Her eyes begin to glow and a small flame appears hovering over her finger, and as her arrows pass through it they ignite, setting demon after demon ablaze. Astrid taught you how the demons moved and you try to conserve your magic by relying on your training with her. You deftly avoid a demon's claws and cut him in two as another lunges in and tries to stab you. You turn your face and move your head back as the demon's blade grazes against your cheek, leaving a thin streak of blood. You slam your elbow into his stomach and as he staggers backward you slash him across the chest, sending him crashing to the ground. 

Another demon charges in and throws his sword at you. You dodge to the side, but the demon tackles you, sending both of you tumbling. The demon comes to rest on top of you and begins pounding away as you raise your arms in defense. As you are being pummeled, you notice another demon picking up a large rock and holding it above your head. A flaming arrow pierces the demon's chest and he loses his grip on the rock. It crushes him and lands precariously close to you. 

Priscilla leaps on top of the demon attacking you and digs her claws into his neck, tearing out chunks of flesh before she smashes his head into the ground. You and Priscilla take a few breaths before she looks back and helps you to your feet. You stand back to back with Priscilla as the demons slowly encircle you. Vivienne is fending off some of the demons that noticed her and are now trying to jump up towards her. The demons swarm you and Priscilla, but no matter how many you kill, their numbers don't seem to be thinning. The desperate struggle continues until a wave of black fire streaks across the air and sets a large portion of them on fire. The demons shriek in agony and as they bump into each other, the fire continues to spread. 

"Are you guys ok?" C.C. yells as she flies towards you with Astrid in tow. 

"Yeah, glad to see you're alright too." You respond as you block a demon's sword. 

You push back, throwing the demon off balance and then slash down. With everyone working together, the demons stand little chance, and soon succumb to your combined might. 

You sit against a rock and say, "This isn't good, we're wasting too much time and energy." 

Priscilla nods and says, "Indeed, all of us could use some rest." 

Astrid folds her arms and says, "And how are we supposed to do that?" 

"It's true none of us would be able to sleep if we were being attacked, but if I use my magic, some of us could stay awake on guard while the rest slept soundly." Priscilla explains. 

"No way! I'm not letting you put me to sleep, what would happen if we were ambushed?" Astrid protests.

Priscilla responds, "I would stay awake so that if anything were to happen, I could undo the spell and you would be back on your feet in seconds. It certainly isn't without risks, but I don't see a way we can continue on like this and still have the energy left to fight Iliya." 

No one looks particularly happy about being put in such a vulnerable position, but no one has a better idea either. 

"I think Mika and Astrid should go first, the rest of us can keep a look out." Priscilla says. 

"What! Why do I have to go first?" Astrid objects. 

"You and Mika have the largest stores of energy, so you will need all the time you can get to replenish it. Take the chance now while you have it, C.C. can distract the demons and if we need to move, I can carry you and Vivienne can carry Mika." Priscilla explains.

Astrid looks skeptical and you say, "She said she can undo the spell if something happens, I think we should rest while we can." 

Your group climbs up onto the raised ground but you don't see anymore demons in the area. You spot more large rocks in the distance and take refuge behind them. 

"This is as good a spot as any, well?" Priscilla says. 

You and Astrid lay down on the ground and Priscilla walks over and kneels down. Her eyes glow a soft purple color as she passes her hand in front of your face. You immediately feel drowsy and yawning is the last thing you remember before you fall asleep.


	30. The Fortress

Your eyes open as Priscilla's hand moves over you and Astrid again. You feel re-energized and sit up and look around. Everything seems alright. but you notice you are in a different part of the island now. 

When you ask Priscilla what happened, she says, "Not much. A few patrols passed by but they were getting closer each time, so we thought it was better to move to a less noticeable spot and let you two rest as much as possible." 

You think for a moment and say, "Any sign of Kira and Hakon?" 

Priscilla shakes her head and says, "None. Let's just hope they can avoid that serpent." 

You nod and say, "I guess I'll take watch first then." 

"Actually, after we moved, the demons seem to have lost track of us and we were able to switch off and get some rest too. We're ready to go when you are." Priscilla responds.

You look to Vivienne and C.C., who look to be rested up as well and say, "Alright then, I wish Hakon and Kira were here, but we can't waste any more time, is everyone ready?" 

Astrid clenches her fist mid air and says, "Hell yeah! Let's do this!" 

Your group climbs on top of some rocks and surveys the area. "Any of this look familiar Astrid? Do you know which way we should go?" You ask. 

"I haven't been here in years, but one thing hasn't changed." She says pointing to the sky, "Just follow the smoke and we'll end up on Iliya's doorstep." 

You trace the smoke over a large hill and surmise that the factory must be beyond it. 

"Keep your eyes open." Priscilla says as she leaps off the rocks to the ground below. 

You follow her lead and make your way deeper into the island. Wanting to avoid expending energy, your group moves stealthily through the wasteland and after climbing a large hill, you can see the factory clearly now, as well as the fortress like structure they've built around it. 

"That's Iliya's stronghold. It doesn't look that big, but it extends underground a few hundred feet and at the very bottom, is the only entrance to the factory." Astrid explains. 

"Why would they need the factory to go that far underground? What exactly goes on in there?" Priscilla inquires.

Astrid responds, "I don't really know. It would be suicide to challenge Iliya alone and she already had the rest of the demons under her thumb. I tried to stay away from that place as much as I could." 

"Well whatever it is, we're gonna stop it, right?" C.C. asks.

You nod as you make your way down the hill. 

You are deep in thought when Priscilla asks, "What's wrong Mika?" 

You shake your head and say, "I was just thinking about what Iliya was saying about that knight in the white armor. She said he was also blessed by Mara, but then she corrupted him and turned him into her slave. I was just wondering why no one had heard of him before." 

"That's a good question. It's true that there were many powerful allies that fought against the demons in the past, but none have demonstrated the capabilities you possess, at least as far as I've seen. Perhaps he met Mara on the verge of death, and that's when she blessed him. It took you a while to get used to your powers, if the same was true for him, it would explain how Iliya overpowered him. It's not very scientific of me to be spouting theories based on assumptions, but right now, we need to be unified in our resolve." Priscilla says as she presses on.

You agree and then notice Vivienne's ears perk up. 

"Something's coming, quick, get behind those rocks!" Vivienne says and your group dashes behind some boulders. 

A loud screech is accompanied by the sound of massive wings flapping through the air. A hideous creature lands at the base of the hill about fifteen feet away from your hiding spot. You crouch down and hope that the gigantic creature can't see you over the rocks. 

"A chimera? Damn you Iliya..." Astrid says under her breath. 

"What the hell is a chimera?" You ask peeking around the boulder at the beast. 

Its body is covered in white and grey fur and it stands on all fours, folding its massive silvery wings onto its back. The head of the beast looks like a lion, but it has two large fangs protruding down from its mouth. Out of everything though, the creature's tails are the most frightening. There are six of them, and each one is a living snake, about ten feet long. 

"Everything that's alive has magical circuits, regardless if they are ever able to use them, they're there. Animals and even plants have them too, but they are all laid out very differently. Normally, trying to cross breed species would never work, the circuits wouldn't mesh together and they would overload and destroy both creatures, but humans are special. Their circuits are slightly different, even the most magically inept human is still capable of successfully merging together with another set of circuits." Astrid explains. 

Priscilla tilts her head and says, "So that's how the people were transformed?" 

Astrid nods and continues, "Yeah, but what a lot of you don't realize, is that Iliya gave human attributes to animals too, which is why some of you look more... bestial, while others look mostly human still. She's been experimenting on humans ever since she awoke and took control over the demons. She was never able to replicate the results with animals though, without the human element, they would inevitably die shortly after creation. There's no mistake though, she has perfected her technique and merged several animals into that, thing." Astrid says looking visibly upset.

You ask, "Why does this bother you so much? Is it too powerful to take on?" 

Astrid shakes her head and says, "Look at that thing, of course it's strong, but that's not what I meant. Iliya's test subjects are made to experience things that even a demon would fear. Even if she managed to successfully merge them, without a human pattern as a template, its circuits are decaying. Iliya must be suppressing it somehow with her dark energy. I'm sure you can feel that chaotic frequency with your powers Mika, this creature is in incredible pain." 

You do feel a very strange frequency coming from the creature, but you're more surprised at how much Astrid cares about this. You knew she wasn't a typical demon, but if it weren't for her red skin and horns, you wouldn't even know she was a demon. 

Astrid sees the look on your face and says, "What? I told you not all demons are bloodthirsty sex addicts, so wipe that stupid fucking look off your face before I..." 

Her words are cut short by another loud screech as the creature lifts off and spots your group. 

"Shit!" Astrid says as she leaps on top of the boulder and then at the creature. 

The chimera swipes her out of the air and Astrid crashes down hard onto the ground. You run towards the beast and almost get hit by its claws, but manage to dodge and get in close. You sink your blade into its right hind leg, but it barely cuts it at all. You charge electricity into your blade and continue to push with all your might. The blade sinks deeper but still not even halfway. You withdraw your sword as two of the chimera's tails lunge in and strike. You slice hard, but they both clamp down on your blade, pushing back with much more strength than you expected. Vivienne fires two arrows in quick succession at the snakes holding your sword, but the rest of the tails come around and catch the arrows mid air.

"What?" Vivienne says in disbelief.

C.C. glides past her and says, "Leave this to me!" 

C.C.'s eyes glow and black fire accumulates around her hands. She throws the fireball at the creature's head, but suddenly, its tails release your sword and the creature's massive wings unfurl and begin to flap. As the chimera lifts into the air, the gusts push the black fire back towards C.C. Priscilla pushes C.C. out of the way while leaping in the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding the flames herself. Astrid gets to her feet and wipes a small amount of blood from her lip. The chimera roars and swoops down trying to grab you with its claws. You send a shockwave of energy towards the beast, but it rolls to the side and it misses as it slides across the dirt. The chimera lifts off again and climbs high into the sky. 

Priscilla makes it over to Astrid and says, "What's it doing now?" 

The chimera's silvery wings spread out fully and it looks like its feathers are pointing towards the ground. The beast roars and flaps its giant wings, sending feathers raining down from above at blinding speed. A feather races by your face and cuts into your skin. They are razor sharp! You don't now what kind of feathers this thing has but you know they could easily kill you if you aren't careful. You deflect the incoming feathers with your sword as Priscilla creates a barrier for everyone else. 

The razor rain finally ends and you know now is your only chance. The beast's wings flap again and you see more feathers growing in already. You have to do something about the wings first, otherwise, you're at a disadvantage against a hailstorm of razor sharp feathers. You sprint towards the creature and leap high into the sky. As you fly towards the chimera, you charge ice magic in your hand and release it as you pass above the beast. You didn't charge enough to freeze it completely, but its left wing ices over and the chimera can no longer stay afloat. 

The creature comes crashing down and you yell, "Now, before it gets up!" 

As you fall back down to the ground. The chimera tries to stand, but Priscilla and Astrid each latch onto one of its front legs, keeping it immobile. 

C.C. glides up to the monster and gently rubs the fur around its eyes while saying, "I'm sorry, but this is the only way we can help you now." 

C.C. releases black fire into the beast's mouth as it roars and within seconds the entire creature is engulfed in flames. It cries out in agony as it melts and eventually slumps onto the ground. 

"Damn it! I don't agree with Iliya transforming people, but at least they don't feel pain like this thing. What she's doing makes me fucking sick!" Astrid exclaims clenching her fist. 

"Let's go before any demons find us." Priscilla suggests.

After a short walk, you come to a path clearly used by the demon soldiers leading straight down to the factory. Near the factory, a small army of demons prowl around and await your arrival. 

"She knows we're coming, they're going to wait down there and use their numbers to overwhelm us, just like they did all those years ago." Priscilla says. 

Astrid grits her teeth but you have an idea. 

"C.C., I'm gonna boost your powers, use your black fire and take out as many as you can." You say as you place your hands on C.C.'s shoulders. 

You let your energy flow into the succubus and she says, "Oh wow! Yeah, this'll be easy!" 

C.C. raises her hands and a huge cloud of black fire appears overhead. She quickly points her arms towards the demons and the black cloud swoops down the path. The cloud impacts the ground in front of the stronghold and erupts, spewing black fire everywhere and melting countless demons along with a good chunk of the fortress wall. 

"Let's go!" You yell as you lead the charge down the path towards the demons. 

As you reach the fortress, a massive demon crawls out of the gaping hole in the building and towers over the battlefield. It roars but before it can attack, a long icy spear pierces the monster's chest and it falls to its knees. Hakon swoops in with his icy wings and slashes the beast a few times before driving his blade of ice into the demon's skull. 

As the towering beast collapses, Priscilla says, "Hakon you old bastard, took your sweet time getting here didn't you?" 

Hakon lands gracefully and says, "Priscilla, as unrefined as ever I see, I hope you have also retained that bestial strength as well?" 

Priscilla looks irritated and says, "This is why no one visits you up on that mountain." 

"Mika!" Kira yells as she finds you amid the chaos. 

"I'm glad you're alright, you were taking a while to get back so I was worried." You say. 

"Yeah sorry, but Hakon gave me a bunch of his energy, so I can help out more now!" Kira says excitedly. 

"Alright, just remember, try to conserve as much as you can until we fight Iliya." You reply, relieved she is alright.

Kira nods and joins the fight as demons swarm your group from all sides. Demonic blood sprays into the air as they keep pouring in and tightening their ranks. 

Over the fighting, Priscilla yells, "Vivienne and I will hold them off here, the rest of you get going, or else we won't make it to Iliya at all!" 

You cut down a demon and ask, "Are you sure you can handle it?" 

Priscilla holds out her hand and says, "Give me one of those potions just in case." You hand over the vial and Priscilla yells, "Now get going!" 

You don't want to leave her and Vivienne here, but she's right, by the time you kill all the demons, you wouldn't have anything left to fight Iliya with. You turn your head away and leap over the crowd of demons into the fortress. You land in a corridor that looks almost like a military bunker back home. The passages are tight and the ceiling is low, which will inhibit combat greatly. Not many demons followed you into the fortress and once they're dead, you make your way deeper into the complex. 

There are several rooms on either side of the long corridor and all of them seem to be holding cells, but they are all empty. At the end of the hallway, there is an elevator leading further down. You and your companions step inside and notice it only travels down one floor before stopping, and there are no buttons to activate it again. The doors open and you see what appears to be some kind of lab. Strange monstrosities are suspended in green goo inside large glass tubes, bathing the entire floor in an eerie green haze. 

"What are those things?" You ask but you don't have to wait long for an answer as Iliya walks into the room from the opposite side. 

"Failures. It took quite a few before I learned how to manipulate them properly." Iliya says looking at one of the monsters through the glass. 

"Iliya!" Astrid yells.

Iliya laughs and says, "Astrid, to think you would turn against your own kind like this, how disappointing." 

Astrid moves towards Iliya but you stop her and say, "Don't let her mess with your head, we have to work together." 

Iliya laughs at your words and says, "I'm going to enjoy killing you most of all, champion. I will be waiting in the factory with your precious friend, don't keep me waiting too long or else I might have to play with her instead." 

You grit your teeth at Iliya, and she disappears in a cloud of black smoke. 

"Don't worry Mika, we've backed her into a corner now!" Kira cheers.

Hakon says, "No, she's right where she wants to be. We still have to make it to the factory, and past Iliya's guards before we reach her. We're walking right into her trap." 

You know Hakon is right but there is no other way forward. You cross the room and get into another elevator that takes you to the next floor down. This floor is very dark and only a few candles along the walls provide meager lighting to the gigantic room. At least in here you won't be confined in a passageway, but even with your powers, it is difficult to see into the darkness. You hear faint footsteps and catch a glimpse of the candlelight glinting off a blade in the darkness. Suddenly, you come under attack and you struggle to block the attacks as they seem to come from nowhere. You parry the sword and stab into the darkness, but the sword flips around and slices you in the ribs. As you stagger backwards, you notice the sword appears to be floating on its own before it sinks back into the darkness. 

Astrid steps forward and creates her blade of energy as she says, "Nocturne, still hiding in the dark huh?" 

Two swords lash out from the darkness at Astrid as she quickly defends against them and says, "He hides in the dark and conjures blades to fight for him. He's in there somewhere, find him and I'll deal with these!" 

You nod and Kira throws a sphere of light into the darkness. It briefly illuminates a hooded figure sitting against a wall before it is swallowed by the darkness. 

"There!" you yell as C.C. throws black fire into the darkness, but the blades don't stop attacking Astrid. 

You close your eyes and concentrate until you feel two faint magical frequencies that you don't recognize. They are coming from inside the darkness and appear to be separate entities. 

"There's something else in there too!" You yell as a long shape emerges from the darkness. It slithers across the floor and when it comes close you see that it's some kind of tentacle, but whatever it's connected to remains shrouded in the dark. Kira charges a bigger sphere of light and hurls it into the darkness again. This time it illuminates the room for a few seconds before flickering out. In that brief moment, you see a mass of writhing tentacles. There is no real shape to it and it has no features, just long, slimy tentacles tangled together in a blob. You also notice Nocturne changing positions and Hakon quickly impales him to the wall with a spear of ice. The conjured blades dissipate and Astrid takes a deep breath. 

"What the hell is that thing?" You ask hesitantly. 

"I have no idea, I've been gone a long time. Maybe it's Iliya's new pet or something." Astrid remarks.

Hakon glides over to Nocturne and is about to finish him off, when his body turns to smoke and reappears behind Hakon. The demon bashes him over the head and Hakon stumbles forward as the demon prepares another strike. You rush to Hakon's aid, but as you come up behind the demon, tentacles lash out from the darkness and wrap themselves around your limbs in an instant. You struggle against your restraints in vain, this creature seems to be pure muscle and is squeezing very tightly around your wrists and ankles. C.C. and Kira quickly glide to you and begin trying to burn the tentacles with fire magic, but the creature seems to be absorbing their magical energy and each tentacle thickens and grows larger. 

"Why isn't it burning?" C.C. asks as Kira transforms and fires an arrow at the monster. 

It simply uncoils a few more tentacles and the arrow passes through the gap, missing its target. The tentacles lash out and bind C.C. just like you, but Kira manages to get away by reverting to her normal size and retreating to where Astrid is. Hakon repeatedly stabs Nocturne, but each time, he vanishes into a cloud of smoke and reappears somewhere else. Astrid and Kira slowly approach the monster as more tentacles unfurl and poise themselves to strike. As you watch helplessly, more tentacles slide up your body and begin working their way under your armor. You try to resist, but the appendages are very dexterous and in a few moments, your armor falls to the ground. You look over and see that the tentacles have torn C.C.'s skimpy clothing and are rubbing against her pussy and ass. 

You feel a tentacle brush against your pussy and yell, "Any time now Astrid!" 

Astrid creates her blade of energy and slices through a tentacle, but the creature absorbs the energy from the blade and the two halves rejoin and heal instantly. Astrid is knocked off her feet by a tentacle and soon she is bound like the rest of you. 

"Kira!" you yell, "Hakon can free us, just help him with Nocturne!" 

The tiny fairy doesn't want to leave you like this, but she knows she won't be much help on her own. As you watch Hakon and Kira struggle against Nocturne, a tentacle pushes its way up into your pussy. You gasp at the sudden intrusion and then another one fills your ass. They pump in and out rhythmically and you soon begin to feel pleasure from the unwanted assault as your cock bounces around. You bite your lip in an effort to focus on something other than the pleasurable feeling this monster is giving you, but a tentacle wraps itself around your throat and squeezes, causing your to gasp for air. As your mouth hangs open struggling to breathe, a tentacle slides up your body and into your mouth. The tentacle around your throat loosens slightly as the other fucks your mouth. You try to bite down, but when it feels pressure, the tentacles constrict around your throat again, forcing your mouth open. 

You feel the tentacles bulging and then your insides become very hot. It's cumming, this monster is cumming inside you! You struggle in vain and the tentacles continue their assault, even after reaching orgasm. Their cum sloshes around loudly and drips to the floor, as the tentacles relentlessly pump in and out. C.C. seems to be enjoying it however, she is sucking on two of the tentacles at the same time and jerking off two more as she's being fucked. They cum down her tiny throat and she drinks it all like she was dying of thirst. You feel the tentacle in your mouth bulge and then it spews hot cum into your mouth and down your throat. You cough and cum flies out around the tentacle as it continues to pump its cum into you. 

"You motherfucker! When I get out of here..." You can't see Astrid from this position, but you assume she is being treated the same as you and C.C. 

You hadn't expected a monster to be able to absorb magic like this and don't know what to do as another tentacle pushes it way past your pussy and wraps itself around your cock. You moan slightly and try to contain yourself as C.C. moans passionately and Astrid yells in frustration. 

"Fairy." Hakon says, "Use your light and keep pouring magic into it!" 

Kira nods and launches a sphere of light towards Nocturne. Its starts to flicker out, but Kira charges it again and the light gets brighter, causing nocturne to shield his eyes. Hakon leaps in and lands a fierce blow, but instead of turning to smoke, Hakon's icy sword finds its mark and sinks into Nocturne's chest. 

"As I suspected, there is a reason you're in the dark down here, your powers don't work in the light do they fiend?" Hakon says as he walks over to the demon and drives his blade through it's skull. 

"Hakon! The others need your help!" Kira yells and Hakon turns and sees the monster fucking all three of you. 

He rushes over and freezes the tentacles around you. You shatter the tentacle and break free as Hakon frees Astrid and C.C., but you notice the tentacles are already regenerating. Your group slowly backs away from the monster guarding the next elevator. 

Kira says, "What do we do now? It just absorbs our magic." 

Hakon raises his arms and says, "Then let's give it what it wants." 

He fires an intense blast of ice energy at the creature. It is so powerful, you feel chilled to the bone even standing next to him. The tentacles begin to grow and C.C. sprays black fire over Hakon's ice, causing them to grow even more. You raise your hands and charge electricity before releasing it at the monster. The purple electricity mixes with the fire and ice to create a dazzling light show as the creature bloats up and then explodes. Hakon awkwardly turns around and clears his throat as you catch your breath and put your armor back on.

Kira says, "That was disgusting." 

"It's over now, let's just keep going." You say trying to wipe the cum from your face and legs. 

Your group boards the elevator and rides it down to the next floor.


	31. The Factory

Hakon steps out of the elevator first and as he looks around he has a grim look on his face. 

"What's wrong?" You ask.

Hakon replies, "This scent is familiar." 

"I'm flattered you remember me after all this time Hakon, I always hoped you would return so I could play with you some more, we had such fun in the dungeons, didn't we?" A woman's voice says.

A naked woman with huge breasts walks slowly into view. She looks like a demon, but her skin is pale white, so you assume she is a succubus like C.C. 

"What you did was blasphemy!" Hakon rages.

The succubus laughs and says, "Yes, yes, it's always heresy unless you're the one doing it right? You may have resisted me, but I know your body can't hold back as well as your mind can." 

Hakon looks back and says, "Go on ahead, I can't allow this one to live after speaking to me like that."

You don't want to argue with him, especially not with that fiery look in his eyes. 

"Alright, meet us in the factory when you're done." You say as you turn to leave. 

"Of course, I still have business with Iliya." Hakon says as he charges the succubus. 

You board the elevator and arrive at the next floor down. The structure seems only half finished down here and you assume you must be getting close to the bottom. There are cages along either side of the room and as you step into the center of the room, all the cages open. Monstergirls slowly emerge from the cages and look towards you with lifeless eyes. 

"They're Iliya's slaves, they might return to normal if we kill her, but I don't think they are going to let us pass without a fight." Astrid says cracking her knuckles. 

"If they're being controlled can't we just knock them out and spare them?" You ask. 

Astrid looks to you and says, "Sure, but if you aren't prepared to kill like they are, you'll probably die. These girls have no sense of fear or pain, and won't hesitate to take your life." 

A snakegirl charges in and you dodge to the side as Astrid jumps on top of her and uses her claws to rip open her neck. The snakegirl falls to the floor as a centaur rushes in and knocks Astrid off balance. You drive your blade into the girl's chest and you see tears in her eyes as she slumps onto the ground. The monstergirls are fierce, but ultimately they are no match for your group, and only one remains. 

Astrid slowly walks towards the bunnygirl and you put your hand on her shoulder and say, "There's only one left, we don't have to kill her. These girls did nothing wrong, we shouldn't take her life." 

Astrid folds her arms as you approach the bunnygirl. She looks timid at first but as you get closer, her expression turns violent and she lunges toward you. You side step and hit the girl in the back of the head with the hilt of your sword. She passes out on the ground and you breathe a sigh of relief, at least you were able to save one of them. As you ride the elevator down further, you notice the walls turn to dirt, as if the demons just tunneled their way here and didn't bother to finish construction. Upon exiting the elevator, you see a large cavern with a huge pillar turning in the center. Around the pillar is a pool of black slime and demons in lab coats are using microscopes and mixing liquids in test tubes. 

You can see people being dissected and you yell, "What the hell is going on here?" 

The demons stop what they are doing and look to you with fear in their eyes. Most of them cower behind desks but some stand in your way. 

"What are you doing down here human? Have you come to be our newest test subject? Iliya will be..." One of the demons says.

You move faster than you ever have before and cut the demon's head clean off in one swing. 

His head hits the floor and rolls next to a female demon who yells, "Iliya forced us to do this research, we didn't have a choice!" 

You turn your head to the woman and walk over to her. 

She is trembling as you say, "You didn't have a choice, is your own pathetic life worth more than all the people you've killed!? No, you had a choice, and you made yours, just like I've made mine." 

You stab the woman in the stomach and then quickly withdraw your blade and decapitate her as well. Your companions help kill the rest of the demon researchers and afterwards, you notice there is a metal staircase on the opposite side of the room leading upwards. You climb the stairs and open an iron door at the top. Upon entering, you see Iliya walking away as a behemoth demon blocks your path. Iliya is leading a blonde girl by the hand and you recognize her hair. 

"Gwen!" You scream, but she doesn't turn around and is soon out of sight. 

"Keep your focus! We need to deal with this first!" Astrid yells as she leaps up and punches the demon in the face. 

Kira begins firing one arrow after another at the beast, but they don't seem to be doing much. C.C. throws black fire, but it doesn't burn the beast at all, instead it fizzles out as it comes into contact with the giant demon. You charge in but the beast swipes its massive claws and knocks you into a wall. The force of the blow knocks the wind out of you and you struggle to your feet. The demon gores Astrid with its horn as she leaps in for another attack. It shakes her around violently before she slides off and flies into a wall. You get to your feet as the massive beast leaps towards you and its huge front legs crash down on top of you pinning you to the floor. The beast tries stabbing you with its horns, but you barely manage to move your head out of the way as the horn hits the dirt beside your face. 

You release a shockwave from your armor, but the beast is too heavy and doesn't budge. C.C. and Kira are desperately trying to get the monster's attention, but their attacks aren't having much of an effect. The demon opens its mouth and roars before it tries to bite you. Just before the fangs sink into your flesh, the beast stops and looks back at Astrid, who has its tail in her hands. 

"Alright you bastard, playtime's over!" Astrid yells and you see her muscles strain as she begins lifting the massive creature off the ground. 

Once she has it above her head, Astrid yells as she slams the beast into the ground, causing a mini earthquake. You hear a sickening crunch and the beast is having a hard time standing on one of its legs. Astrid leaps on top of the demon's head and places her hands on its horns. She grunts and breaks off both horns before driving them into the creature's eyes. The demon thrashes around in pain and you ready your sword. You charge in and jump above the beast, releasing an arc of energy towards its neck. The massive head slides off its shoulders and crashes to the ground. You make sure everyone is alright and then notice Astrid clutching her stomach. Her wound hasn't stopped bleeding and it doesn't seem to be healing either. 

You hand her a potion but she refuses and says, "This won't stop me, you keep that, your weak human body will need it more than me!" 

Astrid stands up straight and takes a deep breath. She tears the bottom half of her shirt and ties it around the wound to staunch the bleeding. 

"Astrid's pretty tough, maybe you should save those for the ones that stayed behind." C.C. suggests. 

You put the potion away and continue along the linear path to the next staircase. This seems to be the ground floor of the factory and you see narrow catwalks and ladders connecting multiple levels. There are giant vats and industrial sized tanks but you can't see inside them. High up above, there are people hung on meat hooks being pulled along a conveyor hung from the ceiling. The people are naked and bloody and some of them are still alive and struggling in vain as they are dragged into an adjacent room. The smell of blood and death drowns out everything else in the room as you, Kira, C.C., and Astrid make your way through the maze of machinery and platforms. 

Higher up now, you can see that the vats are filled with black slime and you say, "Watch your step, that slime is underneath us." 

Your group carefully makes its way across a long, narrow catwalk suspended above one of the vats. You hear screaming coming from the other room and quickly make your way through an iron door. Inside, there is a massive pool of black slime, but it's much thicker and almost looks like it's breathing. Above you, the people you saw being dragged in here are being released over the slime. One by one, they fall down and the slime reacts before they even hit the ground, enveloping them and slowly sinking back into itself, leaving no trace of the people as their screams slowly fade. 

As you try to comprehend what is happening, a familiar voice says, "My, you got here fast, did you leave your friends to die?" Iliya laughs and steps out of the shadows. "This is the culmination of my experiments. I've been feeding him everyday, but you humans have such small amounts of energy in you, he's still not quite done growing yet." 

Astrid clenches her fists and yells, "Like I give a shit! I'm gonna tear you apart!" 

Iliya sighs and says, "I really wanted to see him fully grown, but I suppose it doesn't matter. If I create more slime, I can feed all of you to it and surely it would mature much faster than with these weaklings." 

Iliya smiles and leans down to the slime and says, "Be a good boy and kill them for me, but do not eat them, do you understand?" 

The slime begins to slosh around and then it forms tendrils that lash out at your group. Their movements are irregular, but they aren't all that hard to deflect. 

Iliya places her hand in the slime and says, "Your going to have to try harder than that if you want to please me." Iliya's eyes glow and suddenly, the slime begins growing very rapidly. Iliya stands up and walks away as she says, "Don't worry about Gwen, she's my pet now and I take good care of my things." 

You want to chase after her, but the slime is still growing and it is taking on a horrendous shape. Two massive arms form and crash down onto the ground, clad in heavy chains and strange markings. A skull forms next and black flesh cover only parts of the creatures face. Two small red flames burst from its eyes and perpetually burn as another set of gigantic arms form on the creature's back. It pulls itself up out of the ground up to its hips, and it almost hits the roof of the factory. Most of its head and its entire back are on fire and as it roars, black flames spew from its mouth. The massive creature raises one of its arms and you prepare to defend yourself, but instead of attacking, the beast's fiery claws tear through the ceiling above your group, sending large pieces of flaming debris falling down. The rubble separates you and Kira from C.C. and Astrid as the beast rears its head and spews black fire at you and Kira. You quickly grab Kira and jump high up onto a catwalk to avoid the blast as it burns through the walls and floor. The intense flames begin melting the supports and the catwalk creaks before it lurches forward, dragging you along with it. You jump away just as it crashes into the floor.

Kira glides over and says, "What do we do?" 

You look at the monster and say, "You and C.C. stay back, your magic won't be very effective. Let Astrid and I handle this." 

Kira begins to protest but you leap over the rubble and join Astrid. 

Astrid says, "It's just you and me huh? If you can't tell, he's a lot stronger than the other demons we've fought, so don't hold anything back." 

You nod and charge your sword and armor with as much energy as you can before the beast swipes its fiery claws toward you and Astrid. You both jump up and you release an arc of energy into the beast's arm, but it barely cuts into his hardened flesh. Another arm on its back flies in and grabs you mid air as the other slides back and hits Astrid as she lands. All four of the monster's hands are on fire and although it's not black fire, the hand trying to crush you right now is extremely hot. You try to break free, but the monster has an iron grip on you and you try to focus your energy into a barrier. The monster squeezes harder and you feel the heat intensify as well. You struggle to turn your head and see Astrid blocking the beast's claws with her sword. She is straining herself and her wound opens up as her blood spills out onto the floor. Astrid loses her balance and is crushed by the massive hand. It raises up slowly and forms a fist before slamming back down into Astrid. She limply tries to defend herself but the sheer weight alone is enough to break her defenses as the monster pounds Astrid into the crumbling ground. 

C.C. and Kira are desperately trying to throw everything they have at the beast, but it doesn't affect it at all. You have to use that white fire now or someone is going to die. You wanted to save it for Iliya, but there isn't time to think about it. You let your power surge through you and soon the white fire envelops you. The temperature drops dramatically, and you focus on your armor. You release your energy, expecting a shockwave, but instead, the white fire shoots outwards in all directions, forming long blades of energy that pierce the demon's hand in hundreds of places. The blades burn up as the demon releases his grip and uses another hand to swipe at you. Instinctively, you jump out of the way in mid air, as a magic circle forms beneath your feet for you to push off of. You flip over the beast's wide swing and land near Astrid. She is trying to get up but her wounds are giving her trouble. You reach into your bag and grab a potion, patting her on the back hard enough to break the vial. 

Her wounds heal up for the most part and as she stands she says, "Idiot, I told you I was fine. You just wasted that!" 

You look back and say, "You can bitch all you like later, but right now, I need you to help me kill this thing." 

Astrid smiles and says, "Don't go acting all tough, it'll go to your head." 

You and Astrid ready yourselves as the beast has regenerated his injured hand and is preparing to spit fire. You and Astrid leap in opposite directions as the black fire explodes onto the ground. The factory is beginning to crumble as a result of the battle and the black fire rages out of control. Astrid quickly pummels the beast and when it attacks she dodges away from it and you come in and resume the barrage. Your new power is slicing into his flesh, but still not far enough. You charge your blade even more and it crackles violently as you swing hard, but the beast grabs your blade, letting it cut deeply into his hand before he closes it into a fist and lifts you up with your sword still stuck in his fiery hand. The demon slams you into the wall hard, causing you to break through it and hit a catwalk. You fall down and bounce off some railing before you impact the ground. You are dizzy and stumble to your feet as you wipe the blood from your eyes and see Astrid continuing the assault. You see your sword is still lodged in the monster's hand and then you remember how strong Astrid's blade of energy is. Surely with your powers you could have an equally strong blade. 

You concentrate and put your hands together like you saw Astrid do when she first showed you her blade. You pour your energy into your hands and imagine a sword like yours. You slowly spread your hands and see a bright white light in the center of them and it forms into a handle. You place both your hands on the handle and a huge blade of pure white light erupts from the guard. It's impossibly long, but it doesn't weigh much at all, probably because it's made of energy and not metal. You leap back through the wall and slice down hard. The gigantic blade of energy cuts deeply into the beast and it backs away from Astrid. 

"What the hell is that thing?" Astrid asks looking at your huge sword. 

"I don't know, this is what came out when I thought of my real sword." You shake your head and continue, "Never mind, I can cut him deep, but not all the way through, so you come behind me and finish it off." 

Astrid smiles and as she creates her blade of black energy, she says, "I like the way you're thinking, well, what are we waiting for?" 

You nod and charge at the beast, sending arc after arc of energy ripping through the beast's flesh as fast as you can. You leap up and continue lashing out with arcs of energy as Astrid charges in and begins slicing every wound your energy tore open. As Astrid's energy completes the cuts, pieces of the demon's flesh fly off left and right. It roars in pain and reaches out to grab you. You use another magic circle to jump out of the way and continue the barrage. Astrid has worked her way up to the creature's arms now and its torso is somehow still upright even after most of it is scattered all over the room. You feel your energy slowly waning, so you decide to put everything you have into one last attack. You channel all the energy from your armor into your blade and then continue to charge it until the white fire around you disappears. Your blade of energy looks like a blowtorch now, as white fire screams past the tip. 

You raise your humongous sword and slice down hard. The arc of energy it produces is so bright, you can't see it hit the creature and are unsure if it missed until the blinding light fades away. The beast looks like it is frozen in time as it was part way through an attack, but is now motionless. There is a moment when you think that your attack somehow had no effect, but then the factory wall behind the creature slides off at an angle and crumbles. The ceiling gives way and what little daylight there is comes pouring in through the smoke. Beyond the broken walls, you see that your energy has cut through the entire structure all the way up to the front where Priscilla and Vivienne were fighting. You are amazed at the pure destructive force you unleashed and look back at the monster in time to see blood spray from a diagonal wound on its chest and then it too falls to the ground. It is still alive though and you and Astrid walk over and both stab into the demon's head repeatedly until it stops moving. 

"Are you guys alright?" Kira asks feeling guilty she couldn't be of any help as her and C.C. glide down and rejoin you. 

"Yeah I think so..." You say but then suddenly get very lightheaded and sit down. 

"You sure about that, why don't you use one of the potions?" C.C. suggests. 

A hand grabs your shoulder from behind and you feel a surge of coldness enter your body. 

"All she needs is a pick me up. Isn't that right champion?" Hakon says confidently. 

You nod and say, "Yeah, thanks Hakon, are you alright?" 

You notice his armor is a bit bloody but he says, "Yes of course, this is all that is left of that succubus now." 

"We're almost there, but Priscilla and Vivienne are still fighting outside, can you tell them to rejoin us for the final push?" You ask Hakon.

Hakon looks annoyed you would ask him to be a messenger but he looks at the destruction you caused and knows he could get through it the fastest. 

"Fine, but do not engage Iliya without me." Hakon says in a serious tone. 

He spreads his icy wings and takes off flying through the debris. You look over and see a spiral staircase leading up and around into a large tower next to the destroyed smoke stack. 

You sit down and rest while you can and Astrid says, "We're right here! Let's just go, we don't have to wait around for them." 

You shake your head and say, "If it were you out there, I'm sure you would want us to wait too. Everyone has a reason to want her dead, and we won't believe it unless we see it with our own eyes, besides, we could use the extra help." 

Astrid can't argue with that and folds her arms as she leans against a wall. A short while later, Hakon returns with Priscilla and Vivienne. They look roughed up, but they are still ready to fight.

You say, "Iliya's up there. We made it this far, so let's finish this!" 

Your group runs around the staircase leading up the tower and at the top there is a door made of stone. Hakon breaks down the door and you all rush inside.


	32. The Devil Queen

As you burst into the elegantly decorated room, you see Iliya sitting on a throne made of bones and draped in a tattered black and red cloth. Iliya's legs are spread open wide and Gwen sits beneath her, licking her pussy as if her life depended on it. 

"Gwen, I'm finally here! Come with me, hurry!" You plead.

Iliya laughs and waves Gwen away. Gwen turns around and stares at you blankly before slowly walking over to you. 

"That's right, it's me, Mika. I'm gonna get you out of here!" You say as Gwen comes close. 

She reaches out and slips her hand under your armor and into your pants. Gwen's soft hands gently rub your cock, but you quickly take her hand out. 

You say, "What did she do to you?" 

You stare into Gwen's eyes and then she leans in and kisses you passionately. You break the kiss and tuck her head into your shoulder as tears well up in your eyes. 

"You're going to pay for this Iliya." You say as you look back at your companions. 

"Kira, I know you want to fight, but please, keep Gwen safe for me." 

Kira sees the desperate look on your face and says, "No problem, I'll protect her with my life!" 

You nod and turn your gaze back to Iliya who slowly stands and says, "I guess the slime didn't have enough energy, what a pity. You all have been very bothersome of late, and I can't seem to find it within myself to forgive you." 

Iliya smiles and spins around quickly throwing arcs of black energy towards your group. Priscilla creates a barrier but Iliya's magic almost tears through it until Hakon gives Priscilla a boost. Her shield deflects the last arc and then she drops it and Astrid leaps out towards Iliya. Astrid is fighting more viciously than you've ever seen, but Iliya blocks every hit as if it were nothing. Priscilla joins Astrid and Priscilla attack furiously, but still Iliya is able to hold them off without taking a single hit. The way Iliya is blocking every strike, it looks like something out of a martial arts movie back home. Suddenly, Iliya's wings spread out and then wrap themselves around Astrid and Priscilla. You leap up to cut her wings off, but she spins around and throws Priscilla toward you and Astrid into the ground. 

You and Priscilla hit the ground as Iliya steps on Astrid's head and says, "Is this it? I expected more from you, or perhaps my demons aren't quite strong enough yet. They should have been able to kill you long ago if this is all you are capable of." 

You know she's trying to make you waste your energy, but you don't know how long you will be able to use it. You draw your sword and C.C. throws black fire. Iliya raises her hand and the flames wrap around her hand before shooting back towards C.C. You grab her and dive out of the way just in time. Hakon swoops down from above with blinding speed and attacks Iliya. She dodges his first downward strike and conjures a black sword in an instant. Iliya takes the offensive and slashes at Hakon so fast it's difficult to keep up, as Hakon deftly parries and tries to counterattack. He hits Iliya, but she disappears into a cloud of black smoke. Her face reappears behind Hakon and he slashes but again misses. 

Iliya laughs and as she materializes in the center of the room she says, "I must admit, this is much more fun than I expected. I am going to enjoy watching you suffer, Hakon." 

Hakon rushes in and so do you, but Iliya's wings straighten out and lunge forward, impaling both of you. Priscilla and Astrid run towards Iliya, but she throws black fire, forcing them to stay back. Kira fires an arrow but just before it hits her, it stops mid air and begins to disintegrate. Things are looking bad already and you decide to unleash your power. White fire engulfs you as you grab Iliya's razor sharp wing. 

Iliya quickly retracts her wing, cutting your fingers, as she says, "There, that's the power I'm going to feed my slime! Just give up quietly, I'll make sure your deaths are quick." 

Iliya laughs before she withdraws her wing from Hakon and lunges at you. She disappears into smoke again right before she collides with you and then you hear her behind you. You don't have time to react before she sinks her claws into your shoulder and throws you against a pillar. You crash through the column and slam into the wall causing your bag to loosen and fall to the floor. You hear a vial break and see your pouch becoming wet as the blue crystal Lilith gave you rolls out into the open. Iliya's eyes widen and she lunges for the crystal, but you are closer and reach it just before she does, resting your blade against her throat. 

Iliya smiles and says, "I've changed my mind, I will let you and your friends leave here alive, if you give me that crystal." 

You clutch the sphere tightly to your chest and say, "Like I'd believe that, why do you want this so badly?" 

Iliya shrugs and says, "You're all going to die in a few minutes, so I suppose there's no harm in telling you. Long ago, a man used a crystal to repel the slime and my dark magic. I had him captured and tortured him until he told me its secrets. I found out that the crystal could amplify my own powers, if I corrupted it first. I gained unbelievable power, but the divine energy was constantly at war with my dark energy even after it was corrupted. I eventually found a way to suppress the holy energy and use its power to the fullest. If I use that crystal as well, nothing would be able to stop me from taking over Thanos." 

You slowly back away and say, "You just want a world full of slaves, is that it? Over my dead body."  
Iliya smiles and says, "Oh my sweet little champion, I fully intend to help you with that wish, but first..." Iliya pauses for a moment to stab Astrid, who was trying to attack her from behind, before she continues, "It looks like I'll have to take care of these pests." 

Iliya spins around and arcs of energy scream through the air. Astrid manages to block some with her sword, but Priscilla's barrier is torn to pieces and her left arm is severed at the elbow. Blood pours from the wound as Priscilla screams and collapses onto the floor. C.C. quickly flies to Gwen and pushes her onto the ground as a wave of energy hits her in the back. She was leaning over after pushing Gwen so instead of killing her, the energy cuts through both her small wings and she falls to the floor next to Kira. You rush to her but Iliya grabs your arm and demands the crystal again. You release a shockwave and it catches Iliya off guard for a moment allowing you to strike, but she vanishes into black smoke before it hits her. You rush to C.C. and ask if she's alright. 

"Y-yeah." C.C. winces in pain and you can see she is trying to hold back tears as she says, "It hurts, but I'm not going to die or anything, don't worry about me." 

You don't see Iliya anywhere and quickly make your way over to Priscilla who is on her knees clutching her arm. 

"Here." you say holding out the last potion but Priscilla says, "Put that away, I'm part lizard remember?" 

Priscilla screams and a new arm shoots out of her wound, covered in blood. 

"It usually takes a few days to fully regrow, so I'm going to have to rest for a bit before I can use magic again." Priscilla says breathing heavily.

You nod and stand up, trying to heal your own wound before it gets any worse. 

Iliya appears in a corner of the room and says, "I was imprisoned for an eternity in the very same chains Mara is bound in now. When I finally broke free, I wanted to take revenge on the people that lived comfortably while I suffered." 

You shake your head and say, "Those people didn't even know you existed! How is any of this their fault?" 

You ask confused at such a cliched motive. 

Iliya smiles and says, "Yes I came to that same conclusion, but I realized something else as well. I enjoy killing, not just people, but everything. I spread death and carnage, and it fills me with such joy. The only joy I've ever known. I released the black slime to devastate the island, but I became intrigued by its other uses and decided to experiment with it. I was going to use that crystal to enhance the slime, but I couldn't resist having more power to myself, so it's a good thing you've saved me the trouble of looking for a replacement. Now be a good girl and hand it over before I make you suffer beyond your wildest imagination." 

Iliya calmly walks towards you and holds out her hand. You slowly walk towards her and when she closes her eyes and smiles, you slice into her hand. Three of her fingers fall off and half of her hand is hanging on by a few small pieces of flesh. Iliya calmly opens her eyes and looks at her hand before she laughs. 

Her severed fingers turn to smoke and her mutilated hand instantly begins regenerating as she says, "I really love it when they fight back, it makes their deaths so much more satisfying!" 

Iliya grabs you by the face and pulls you close. She smiles and kisses your forehead before throwing you through the wall and out of the tower. You fall down onto a steel spike barrier around the towers base and it pierces your chest. You cough up a mouthful of blood and struggle to free yourself. You manage to slide off the spikes and slump onto the ground clutching your chest. You concentrate and feel the wound closing quickly with the white fire aura. Before it is fully healed however, the white aura fades and you feel exhausted. 

"No... not now...." You think aloud as you struggle to your feet and start climbing the stairs back up towards Iliya. 

It takes longer than you had hoped, but you reach the top of the tower and enter the room again. You stumble inside and see Iliya strangling C.C. She twists her thin neck and it snaps as C.C.'s body goes limp. Iliya throws the lifeless girl across the room and into some rubble. You are enraged and devastated, but you can barely stand, let alone fight. Iliya ignores you and walk over to Kira, who is lying on the floor unconscious. Iliya picks her up and holds out her hand, offering her to you. As you stumble forward, Iliya smiles and crushes Kira in her fist. Blood spills out between Iliya's fingers and she laughs manically. Astrid and Priscilla are on their knees breathing heavily as Iliya raises her hand and a wave of black fire consumes them. They scream and writhe in pain before they fall silent and stop moving. 

Iliya calmly walks over to you and kisses you on the lips. She pushes her tongue inside your mouth and plays with yours. You feel her hand slip under your armor as she stares at you with her icy blue eyes. Her hand rubs your breast for a moment and then gently caresses the center of your chest. You feel a stabbing pain and look down to see Iliya shoving her fingers into your chest. You try to push her away but you don't have any strength left and you feel cold as your vision begins to fade to black. 

You suddenly see yourself standing in a white room, naked. You look around and see Mara dressed in flowing transparent robes, golden jewelry adorning her neck and arms. 

"Am... am I dead?" You ask hesitantly. 

Mara smiles and says, "You are on the verge of death. Iliya is not to be underestimated, but I believe you can defeat her." 

"How?" You ask, "Even with all the power you gave me, I'm still about to be killed, and, everyone else..." 

You wipe away tears of frustration and Mara says, "Your friends are alive. Iliya created an illusion to catch you off guard and take the crystal. There isn't much time, so I must explain quickly. The crystal you possess can be corrupted and in return, grant Iliya even more power, but that is not the only use for it. It has the power to weaken the demons considerably with it's holy magic, or, it could send you and your friend back to where you came from, but its power is limited to only one request, so you must choose wisely." 

Damn, so it's save Gwen or save Thanos? 

"Isn't there another crystal or something I could use after I kill Iliya?" You ask.

Mara shakes her head and says, "I'm afraid I only made the two. I could make another, but it would take a very long time and I am not strong enough, which brings me to the next subject." You stare confused at the goddess as she continues, "Iliya has corrupted this body beyond salvation, so I want you to destroy it." 

"What!? I can't kill you, you're the goddess of this world, the people need you!" You plead.

Mara laughs softly and says, "Sweet child, if you destroy this body, I would be free to take on another form. I could never abandon my children when they needed me most. Iliya locked me in her dungeon to keep me from being reborn. It will take quite a while for me to regain my powers once I am in a new body, but in the mean time, I can transfer my remaining power to you. I'm sorry that you and your friend got mixed up in our world's problems, but now you are the only one who can stop Iliya." 

You smile and say, "Don't worry, as long as I can save Gwen and kill Iliya, then all of this will have been worth it." 

Mara smiles and you say, "So... how do you want me to do this? I don't want to hurt you or anything."  
"My pain is but a pittance compared to those who have lost their lives to Iliya. Strike me down as you would anyone else." Mara says calmly. 

Even though she's telling you to do it, you still feel guilty as you raise your sword to the beautiful, smiling goddess. 

"I'm sorry." You whisper as you close your eyes and pierce Mara's chest. 

You quickly withdraw your blade and the sound of the goddess choking on her own blood doesn't help your guilty feeling at all. You catch Mara before she falls down and gently lay her on the floor. Mara raises her trembling hand and caresses your face, before taking a final breath and then she goes limp. The goddess lay there motionless for a moment before she begins to glow. Her body bursts into golden lights that converge to form a sphere. 

You hear Mara's voice saying, "Thank you for freeing me, my champion. Take my powers and stop the demons, the rest is up to you..." 

Her voice fades away and you sit there for a moment hoping you didn't actually kill her. You touch the sphere and an incredible power flows through you uncontrollably. You feel like your going to lose consciousness when suddenly, you blink and you are back with Iliya, who is inches away from you. You grab her hand and squeeze as hard as you can, completely crushing Iliya's wrist. She pulls back hard but you don't let go and her hand tears off at the wrist. 

Iliya smiles and attacks you with her wings. She stabs and spins around trying to hit you, but you can see her movements clearly now and dodge them with ease. Her hand regenerates and she lunges for you, but you grab her wrist and crush it again. You pull her in and grab her neck with both hands. Iliya's wings attack from either side but you quickly rip them off of her before trying to strangle her again. 

"I don't need to breathe, silly human." Iliya says and you squeeze even harder until you hear something crack. 

You release your grip and pummel Iliya until she is a bloody mess lying on the floor. You get up and Iliya begins to laugh. 

She stands up and says, "This pain is exquisite, I feel like I'm in heaven!" Her wounds are almost healed already and she seems to teleport behind you and says, "Let me share this ecstasy with you." 

You slash behind you but she disappears and stabs you from behind. Her wing retracts and slams into you, knocking you down. Iliya pounces on top of you and you grab her by the throat and hold her back as she wildly claws at your armor, missing your face by inches. Her tail rears up and stabs you in the stomach as your free hand drives your blade into her chest. Her attacks slow, but don't stop and you keep stabbing her as she does the same to you. You cough up blood and don't know how much more your body can handle. Iliya is focused on stabbing you with her tail and doesn't have time to react when you pull her close and smash you head into hers. 

Iliya sits straight up and finally ceases her attack as you slice halfway through her and release electricity to finish the cut, splitting the demon in two at the waist. Her torso hits the floor and Iliya moans as her legs reattach themselves and you get to your feet. Iliya laughs as her appearance starts to change. Her face becomes more demonic and spikes grow on her arms and legs. Her wings become incredibly large and several tendrils made of her dark energy sprout from her back, Her eyes turn completely black and her mouth becomes a mess of long teeth that almost look like she's grinning. You don't know what kinds of tricks she has in mind, but you want to bring the fight away from your injured comrades. You leap up and use magic circles to boost yourself up to the top of the tower. Iliya is close behind and comes to a stop mid air, her massive wings blocking the sun from view. 

"I really wanted to feed your power to my slime, but I think I'll just kill you now." Iliya says in a distorted, ominous voice. 

"Go ahead and try you bitch, I'm not going down without a fight!" You yell as Iliya roars and swoops in.  
You slash hard and sever her foot as she tries to grab you with her claws, but she deflects your sword away with her claws and spins around bringing her newly regenerated foot above your head and sending it crashing into your shoulder. You lose your footing and Iliya rips your sword from your hand and throws it off of the tower. You hold out your hand and a blade made of pure white light appears. Unlike the monstrosity last time, this blade is elegant and slender. It faintly glows gold with a hint of Mara's power surrounding it as you grasp the handle and point the blade to Iliya. She laughs maniacally and charges in again. You cut off tendrils and limbs alike but they just regrow in a few seconds. 

Iliya pushes you back to the edge of the tower and says, "I think it's time for the hero to die now, don't you think?" 

All of her tendrils pierce your body and you try to scream in pain but end up coughing on blood instead.  
Iliya wraps her arms around you and pulls you close as she lifts off into the air and says, "This is what happens when you defy me. If you had just submitted yourself to me, this wouldn't be happening. All of your friends would have gotten to live as well, but now I'm going to kill them all!" 

Iliya drops you high above one of the vats of black slime and laughs. 

As you fall, you hear Mara's voice saying, "Champion, if you wish to return home, I will use the crystal to send you and your friend back." 

You think of everything that's happened and say, "No, I promised I was going to stop Iliya, so use it to destroy the demons. As long as I save Gwen and kill Iliya, nothing else matters." 

"I see, thank you for your sacrifice champion, all of Thanos will be in your debt, but the crystal alone will not kill the demons." Mara explains, "It will severely weaken them and negate all dark magic. Use this time to kill Iliya before she can regain her strength. We are all counting on you, champion. Pierce the crystal with your holy sword to unleash its magic." 

Mara's voice fades away and you throw the crystal into the air. 

You slice through the crystal as Iliya swoops in and screams, "Nooo!" 

A blinding white light explodes out of the crystal and you can't see or hear anything for a few moments. When you finally regain your sight, you see that you and Iliya are near the ground now and you both slam into the stone walkway, causing it to crack around your bodies. You dizzily look up and try to get to your feet, but you look at your arm and see that it is bent at an odd angle and definitely broken. You wearily check yourself for more injuries but besides what Iliya did to you, you are alright, you think. You struggle to your feet and slowly make your way to Iliya, who is still lying face down and motionless. You bend down and grab her by the hair and her eyes snap open. She swipes her claws at you and they tear into your armor. You stumble backwards and try to get to your feet. Iliya looks like she is injured and her wounds aren't healing anymore either. 

She spits up blood and says, "What the hell is going on? What did you do?" You laugh and Iliya walks over to you and says, "What the hell is so funny?" 

"I'm not really sure what just happened, but I think you're going to be a lot easier to kill now." You say with a smile.

Iliya looks down at her wounds and says, "You don't look so good yourself. All I have to do is kill you and then I can regain my strength. Easy enough." 

You feel like you don't have any magical power left and you breathe heavily as the pain from your battles begins to set in. 

You walk over and pick up your sword sticking out of the ground and say, "Like I said, I'm not going down without a fight, so stop talking and let's end this." 

Iliya smiles and charges you attacking in quick succession with her wings. You block the razor sharp wings but even after being weakened, she is still very strong and pushes you back slowly. You are running out of options and without Mara's blessing you are forced to rely on all the training you did as preparation for this moment. You try to read her erratic movements and see an opening, so you strike. Iliya's wing is severed and she screams in pain as she staggers backward. 

"What's wrong Iliya? I thought you enjoyed pain?" You taunt as you slowly close in on her. 

"Shut the fuck up you bitch!" Iliya says clutching her wing as it sprays blood all around her. "This is your fault, I'll kill you for this!" Iliya roars. 

You try to push her further hoping to create an opening. 

"You already said that but here I am, still alive, and standing over a cowering demon." You say.

Iliya is furious as she stands and says, "I'm going to rip you apart and bathe in your blood!" 

Just a little more. 

"Maybe you numbed yourself to pain with your magic, but right now you're feeling the pain that humans feel everyday. The great demon Iliya, you're nothing more than a common animal now, just like the rest of us." You say looking down on the demoness.

Iliya snaps and lunges at you at full speed. She attacks wildly with her claws and her remaining wing, but there is no technique behind it, only raw power, which makes it easy to read her movements. You got into her head but you still need to be careful, her attacks could easily kill you at this point. Iliya gets even more enraged the more she misses you and roars in frustration. You block her claws and spin around, slashing her along the way. Iliya blocked your attack but her wing is now badly hurt and she can't lift it very high anymore. 

"It hurts doesn't it? This is what you put all those people through!" You yell.

Iliya laughs and says, "And I'm not going to stop, not until all of you fucking humans are dead!" 

Iliya attacks with her claws and you block most of her strikes, but one hits you in your injured arm and you are sent flying into the tower. You crash through the wall and struggle to get to your feet as Iliya approaches. Iliya leaps towards you and you stumble backwards. As Iliya comes into range, you quickly duck and slash as hard as you can. Your sword cleanly slices into Iliya's torso and makes it's way down to her naked pussy where your blade exits her flesh and her body tumbles past you and into a wall. Your wounds are hurting badly and you feel lightheaded as you return to your feet and approach Iliya. Suddenly, she lunges forward and you barely manage to put your sword between you two. Iliya leans in and presses her tongue hard against your blade, slicing her tongue like a snake's as she laughs and grabs hold of your blade, crushing it in her hands. Her bloody hands drop the pieces of your sword to the ground and she smiles at you. You pant in exhaustion as Iliya slowly gets up. You step backwards and trip on some rubble, falling down to the floor. 

Iliya gets on her hands and knees and crawls over to you and says,"Do you have any last words for your friends before I kill them as well?" 

You look at her cold blue eyes and say, "Yeah, sorry it took so long." 

Iliya screams but you slam a piece of rubble against her head and she falls to the side. You quickly roll on top of her and smash the back of Iliya's head until there is a large hole in her skull and a pool of blood around you. Not wanting to take chances, you back away and find what's left of your sword. You return to Iliya and stab her over and over until you are too tired to lift the broken sword. You sit against a wall with a good view of Iliya in case she gets up again, but she doesn't. 

A long while passes and after you're sure she hasn't moved, you remove your breastplate and inspect your wounds. You are bleeding in several places that Iliya stabbed you and your arm looks mangled. It doesn't really hurt that bad and you suppose you are going into shock. You feel cold as the sounds of distant fighting and roaring fires slowly fades away and you close your eyes. 'At least I know Gwen will be safe, the others will make sure of that.' You think as you begin to go numb. 'I hope that the people of this world can find peace now. I hope Gwen can forgive me for leaving her all alone after we just rescued her, but I can't really do anything about it now. I'm gonna die here next to this demon, in this hellhole of a factory... Why did it have to end this way?'


	33. Requiem

"Come on honey, we have to get dressed now." C.C. says as Gwen looks around unaware of why everyone is getting dressed up. 

"It's so sad that Gwen is still like this even after Iliya is gone." Kira says with a sad look on her face. 

"Yes, but she's alive, and with any luck, hopefully her memories will return one day. You have to look at the bright side, Mika sacrificed a lot for all of us." Priscilla responds. 

Gwen pops her head through a sweater and C.C. says, "There we go, now let me fix your hair and we'll be ready." 

Astrid walks in and says, "Aren't you ready yet, the funeral is in an hour. We're gonna be late."

"Almost, just a second, ok there! Now we're ready to go." C.C. says patting Gwen on the head. 

Kira, Priscilla, Astrid, Vivienne, Gwen, and C.C. board a carriage and set off into town. They arrive at a small house and Kira and C.C. get off and go inside. 

"Hey, how are you feeling? We're all going to the funeral today, for Iliya's victims, if you're up for it, you could tag along..." C.C. says. 

You sit up slowly and say, "Yeah, I feel like crap, but I want to go. A lot of those people died so I could face Iliya, it's only fair that I go and pay my respects." 

C.C. helps you to your feet and Kira says, "We're gonna take her to the funeral doc, be back later!" 

The doctor shakes her head and waves you off. You climb into the carriage and are reunited with everyone for the first time since the battle with Iliya. It's been three days since then and you've been recovering at a local doctor's home in Valen City. When you woke up, Kira was right by your side and told you about how the demons lost their power and were almost completely wiped out after you killed Iliya. You learned that although everyone sustained serious injuries, all of you made it off of the island alive. As the carriage bumbles down the road, you look at Gwen and wonder what Iliya did to her while she had her captive. 

Gwen is very sexual now but she has the intelligence of a child and can hardly even speak. The only thing that gives you hope is that she remembers your name and seems to love being around you. The carriage arrives at the funeral and you slowly get off with help from Priscilla. You make your way into the crowd of people and silently listen as a priest talks about how it was their time. You can't help but think that's bullshit. Iliya was responsible for their deaths and she paid for them with her life. It doesn't bring them back, but at least she can't hurt anyone anymore. You wonder how you could have done things differently, maybe saved more people.

Priscilla puts her hand on your shoulder and says, "What's done is done, we can't change it no matter how much we might want to. All we can do is move forward and make sure this wasn't all in vain. Cheer up, you did something amazing, you should be proud." 

"I know it's just..." You begin.

Astrid cuts you off and says, "Quit moping, celebrate your victory and honor the dead." 

"Yeah! You saved Gwen and our whole world too! You should be happy!" Kira adds. 

"You're right, I guess I have earned it." You say with a smile. 

"That's the spirit, now you watch your girlfriend for a minute, I have to pee." C.C. says as she leads Gwen to you and flies off. 

Gwen looks at you and smiles warmly. Seeing her like this almost brings tears to your eyes and you hug her tightly. 

Gwen hugs you back and says, "M-mika..." 

"That's right, I'm right here and I'll never leave you alone again, I promise." You say.

You hold Gwen for a few minutes and then break the embrace as the priest reads off a list of the dead. After the funeral, you head back to the doctor's house to rest.

C.C. says, "I'll bring Gwen by tomorrow, so you get some rest and feel better, ok?" 

You smile and say, "Thanks for taking care of her for me C.C." 

The succubus shrugs and says, "Maybe I'm just doing it so you'll owe me and have to work for me..." 

You both burst out laughing but your wound starts to hurt.

C.C. says, "Sorry, I'll see you tomorrow Mika, sleep tight!" 

You lay down on the mattress and think, maybe this won't be so bad after all. The demons are gone and the corruption has stopped spreading. Maybe the people can even go back to how they used to be. You and Gwen are stuck here now unless Mara contacts you again, but ever since the fight with Iliya you haven't been able to use magic at all, which is why you aren't back on your feet like the rest of your friends. Oh well, after everything you've been through, trying to race your way across continents and fighting battle after battle, you are enjoying the peace and quiet of Valen City. 

Sometimes things happen that are out of your control, but you still have to make it through somehow, and you feel glad that starting a new life in Thanos is a much smaller undertaking than slaying a demon queen. The doctor checks on you before she heads upstairs to her room for the night and you blow out the candle lighting the room. You take a deep breath and think that no matter what life has in store for you from here on out, you can handle it, even without your powers, because you've made friends here that will last a lifetime. The moonlight pours in through the window and lands gently on your face as you close your eyes and fall asleep.


End file.
